Thank goodness, he's been given a 90-day suspension.

Watch today's Democracy Now for a full background on his case.

they don't appear to be taking any more calls.

numfar - where did you hear that he had been granted a 90 day suspension?

Not willing to bypass some bureaucratic horseshit to spare a mans life? What the fuck is wrong with you people?

We are a nation of laws.

Human Life is well, a commodity, if not entertainment.

This is the problem with the death penalty. There is never an excuse to execute an innocent person. Proponents for the death penalty consider a wrongful execution as "collateral damage" unless it's a family member or a friend that has been wrongly convicted and sentenced to die.

The death penalty is uncivilized and barbaric and we as a nation are still living in the dark ages.

When you have a death penalty, you must accept the inevitability of executing the innocent. I've always found it beyond ironic that Conservatives who claim to distrust government, trust the state absolutely to always get it right when it comes to the death penalty/

For every O.J. that is set free, how many innocent are found guilty?

And another thing, if anyone deserved to be executed, it should be the people responsible for outing a covert CIA agent. This very act of treason which jeopardized our national security and probably caused the death of others is one that deserves the ultimate punishment - death by hanging, in a public square. But no, we prefer to execute black men and leave the lily white men free to continue with their crimes against this nation.

America is one sick place. No wonder the civilized industrial world sees America as the new threat to humanity and enlightenment.

I don't know, maybe they should fry him, he looks like a killer.

Just look how black he is.

Most of the civilized world rejects the death penalty while we join the axis of evil and allow it. What a country.

[deleted]
When do you think you might join the 21'st century.
I can't believe you call yourselves civilized!

Take it down a notch.

Hell, had then been Mississippi, there wouldn't be such a messy controversey because we would have fried his butt a decade ago.

All this Politically Correct treatment the minorities get sickens me.

This is the south damnit, we don't need this crap.

The first problem with capital punishment is that innocent people are inevitably executed. A disproportionate number of them are visible minorities and/or poor. There is a statistically greater likelihood that the death penalty will be imposed on visible minorities (draw your own conclusion).

Additionally, the cost of competent legal services is prohibitive (just like medical care for the uninsured). The slack is not taken up by public defenders. While many PDs are hardworking, capable lawyers, many others are burned out or ineffective and all suffer from overwork. There are several accounts of lawyers falling asleep in court during serious criminal trials. (Hell, there are even accounts of defence lawyers arriving drunk).

Another problem with capital punishment is that it doesn't work. In general, people who commit crimes either are not thinking about consequences (crimes of passion, drug fuelled rage, etc.) or simply do not expect to get caught. (People who expect to get caught are much less likely to commit crimes).

Since at least the mid-80s, social scientists have done studies showing that, over the long and medium term, increasing punishment has far less an impact on crime rates than does increasing the perception that the likelihood of getting caught is greater. (It does not have to be reality, the perception is sufficient). Hire more cops and abolish the death penalty.

Finally, on a personal level, I am simply unwilling to trust other citizens with the power to sentence people to death.

It looks like his execution has been delayed from stories I'm reading. Is this true?

How do we have a Federal Administration that celebrated a "sanctity of life day", but have death sentence cases streamlined?

Amy Goodman interviewed Taylor's sister; Martina Correia, this morning before she went before the parole board. It is about 30 minutes.

http://play.rbn.com/?url=demnow/demnow/demand/2007/july/video/dnB2007071...

I don't mean to be callus, and I'm NOT. I feel for this man. But in the grand scheme of things, this is another distraction. It only makes it to the front page of the msm when it's intended to effect you in a certain way at a certain time.

Deighved H. Stern, M.D. @ 32:

Still, I won't stoop to that same level by responding with an insult directed at your fellow citizens for (your) actions they had no part of.

I will! Your country's a bunch of hosers, eh! You're probably a newfie.

So let me get this right, the state goverments are the one's who decide whether a man is innocent or guilty, then whether or not he can live or die; are these the same people who run the DMV?

He's black he must be guilty so kill him.

Howw sad it must be to be Born in The USA :(

Oh gee...this is Georgia and he's black. What a shocker. Thank heaven some sense has prevailed and he has been given that 90 day stay of execution. No matter what one may think of the death penalty, this case screams of not being proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

Anyone below the Mason-Dixon line is subject to the worst "legal" ignorance in the country.
What a terrible terrible injustice.

Let's all make it political and pressure whoever his Governor Hoo-Ha is. Even in the face of rescinded eyewitness testimony, no real evidence or dna, I swear they circle-jerk at executions in the south. They DIG IT. No doubt a republican-run state, is it?

Its great to see such a solid consensus against the death penalty.
Dig your selves and your compassion and humanity.

Trent Lott @ 21:

I don't know, maybe they should fry him, he looks like a killer.

Just look how black he is.

Hahaha!

Trent Lott @ 27:

Hell, had then been Mississippi, there wouldn't be such a messy controversey because we would have fried his butt a decade ago.

All this Politically Correct treatment the minorities get sickens me.

This is the south damnit, we don't need this crap.

Thank you Amy for the press coverage of this incredible incident of injustice. It should be so clear to people of color exactly what is in store for us as we move further along with this administration that have been licking their chops to get control of our government to promote this kind of hell on people of color and to be so evil as to not even give any press coverage as there will be thousands of people, all colors that will be standing up against this injustice as we are forced to watch those of white decent violate crimes that they are actually guilty of and not even have to worry about the laws of this land because they are exempt.

This man deserves another trial at the very least and anyone with common sense can see this and for all of the bible toter's of America, that do not seem to even be effected by this injustice.

Dame all of you

moonsha @ 35:

Amy Goodman interviewed Taylor's sister; Martina Correia, this morning before she went before the parole board. It is about 30 minutes.

http://play.rbn.com/?url=demnow/demnow/demand/2007/july/video/dnB20070716a.rm&proto=rtsp&start=10:08

This might be another Florida vs. Butler case (Murder on a Sunday Morning), whereby the cops were lazy to find the real killer and targeted an AA a sheep walking by that morning.

I can understand the dilemma this man is going through just now. Folks, study the Florida vs. Butler case and learn more about the racism at play in the crjs.

The death penalty should be eliminated based on 10-25% of the prison population is convicted by false or inaccurate &/or twisted police/federal gov testimony & investigations.

It is interesting that the psychological profile of the police, judges & attorneys is the same as the men/"criminals" in jail.....personally i have more respect for the criminals than our politicians & law enforcers,.....the "criminals" on the street are usually not in self-denial of their actions and more honest with their intentions to take my stuff or kill me.

Christians should not that it appears to me that the death penalty was done away with by the messiah they call Jesus/Yeshua (his God given name), consider the woman they were going to stone to death....apparently many others were guilty of terrible stuff too and the only one left was JC/Yeshua himself. For those who believe in demons and possession, don't u think that it is the "Christians" job to pray for the possessed man to be delivered of such so that he can have the opportunity to be "born again" with a new spirit in Yeshua?.....remember JC said "father forgive them they do not know what they do"!

Do u know that it takes $5-10 million dollars to get a thoroughly investigated & fair trial in America?......i trust & pray that the truth comes out with the new evidence & it is wonderful that some one (all of us) has enough conscious to put this mans execution on hold and reconsider the "evidence"

WHAT DO YOU EXPECT, IT'S GEORGIA

I oppose the death penalty, but if we’re going to have one then:

Guilty beyond a reasonable doubt as necessary for conviction

Guilty without any doubt as necessary for execution.

Exactly.

I may be naive, but in a death penalty appeal where most of the 'eyewitnesses' have recanted and there is no physical evidence connecting him to the murdrer (hello CSI), then shouldn't it be pretty straightforward to order a new trial?????

ddb @ 63:

I oppose the death penalty, but if we’re going to have one then:

Guilty beyond a reasonable doubt as necessary for conviction

Guilty without any doubt as necessary for execution.

Exactly.

I may be naive, but in a death penalty appeal where most of the 'eyewitnesses' have recanted and there is no physical evidence connecting him to the murdrer (hello CSI), then shouldn't it be pretty straightforward to order a new trial?????

you'd think. that's why i believe these people have trouble admitting they are wrong and are very trigger happy with the death penalty.

JK @ 61:

WHAT DO YOU EXPECT, IT'S GEORGIA

This is the same state where not too long ago a Democratic governor lost his re-election bid because he was successful in getting the confederate battle flag removed from the Georgia state flag. Georgia is a backwater and Atlanta, which calls itself "The city too busy to hate", is little more than a big country town.

Thanks again Newt "Justice delayed is justice denied" Gingrich. (And a sarcastic thanks to Time and WaPo for writing the article so it can be blamed on Clinton.)

While "effective death penalty provisions" were certainly part of Newt's 1994 Contract with America, the bombing of the Oklahoma City Federal Building in 1995 was the critical impetus for motivating a broad coalition of Republicans and Democrats to draft and pass AEDPA. Bill Clinton was a supporter, not a passive observer to this process. There is plenty of blame to go around. Bill Clinton has always been pro-death penalty. Have we forgotten Ricky Ray Rector?

So what ? -- We attacked - invaded and occupied an ENTIRE COUNTRY that did nothing to us. We support and supply a ruthless violent military occupation FOR JEW ONLY - for the past 40 years. What is one more innocent death? Its America's tradition!

Can anyone say Herrera v Collins?

Chief Justice William Rehnquist’s majority opinion held that a claim of actual innocence based on newly discovered evidence did not state a ground for federal habeas relief. Herrera had claimed that, because the new evidence demonstrated innocence, his execution would violate the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment which applied to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment. Rehnquist’s opinion noted that “[f]ew rulings would be more disruptive of our federal system than to provide for federal habeas review of freestanding claims of actual innocence.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herrera_v._Collins#The_decision

Where is Bush on this? When it came to Terri Schiavo he said (via a spokesperson) "When there is a complex case such as this, where serious questions and doubts have been raised, the president believes we ought to err on the side of life."

Guess that doesn't apply to someone convicted of a crime, right George?

Snowball @ 15:

For every O.J. that is set free, how many innocent are found guilty?

I don't worry about the OJ's. I worry about the Ken Bianchis.

Swashbuckler @ 75:

Where is Bush on this? When it came to Terri Schiavo he said (via a spokesperson) "When there is a complex case such as this, where serious questions and doubts have been raised, the president believes we ought to err on the side of life."

Guess that doesn't apply to someone convicted of a crime, right George?

Where is Bush? This guy's the wrong color for one thing.

courts have ruled it is too late in the appeals process to introduce new evidence and, so far, have refused to hear it.

When a person's life is at stake, it should never be too late to introduce new evidence. Just as there is no statute of limitations on homicide cases, there should be no statutory limit placed on when new evidence can be introduced. In capital cases, as long as the sentence is still pending, the window of opportunity for introducing evidence should always remain open.

Professor Farnsworth @ 66:

pissed canuck @ 42:

Deighved H. Stern, M.D. @ 33:

Canuk,

Way to go - use ignorant generalities to attack the people who agree with you, while acting as though your nation is somehow above reproach.

I guess its OK to do that, if the AP can call Troy Davis a "condemned killer" in their headline -- despite the fact that very characterization is deeply in doubt.

Still, I won't stoop to that same level by responding with an insult directed at your fellow citizens for (your) actions they had no part of.

We don't kill inmates.
We don't destroy countries and kill hundreds of thousands of innocent people.
We have credibility around the world.
We take responsibility for our actions and the actions of our government.
And we love our Newfies!
How about you?

we here at C&L are working to stop that and actively condemn it. yet you use that to insult us...

Not an insult.
Just trying to light a fire.
If your governments garbage didn't stink up everyones backyard around the world,
no-one would give a crap.
We are helpless and relying on an apathetic American population to right the wrongs.
Get off your asses and DO SOMETHING!

How many of you have seen the movie "Paridise Lost?" It's the true story of how three goth-type teens got railroaded for the brutal murders of two young boys. It shows how bias the (in)justice system is--especially in the South. The "West Memphis Three" were singled out because they were different--read non-Christians. The local authorities found them guilty with little or no evidence. The police and prosecutors have refused to acknowledge that they are innocent even though now that the evidence has been gone over more closely, it's obvious that they didn't do it.

One of the guys is still on deathrow!

www.wm3.org

Yet another reason to ban the death penalty. How do people live with themselves (whether they testified or are upholding some bullshit legal process) when they condemn a man to die when he very well may be innocent??? How do you point the finger at someone when you're not sure??? I don't care if they were "pressured." What a bunch of spineless low-lifes.

The idea that someone's innocence should be inadmissable is obscene. It's the epitome of a justice system that's authoritarian versus just. It's good news the execution was stayed, but it's ridiculous it's gone this far.