Vol. 73/No. 20      May 25, 2009

We pledge continued support to the fight demanding freedom for Troy Davis, and call for abolition of the death penalty.

We will be joining the May 19 demonstration at the state capitol here and urge others to participate in this important action.

We oppose the decision of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to deny Troy Davis’s motion to file a second habeas corpus petition. We support the call for the Chatham County District Attorney not to seek a death warrant until the U. S. Supreme Court reviews Davis’s appeal.

We will join with all others to help organize protests and meetings to condemn this decision. We urge everyone to review the facts of this case. We are confident that anyone doing so objectively will conclude that Troy Davis was framed up and will join the growing worldwide protest against the determination of the state of Georgia to execute him.

Davis’s case is a powerful illustration of how the death penalty is a class-biased, racist weapon aimed at working people. Davis, an African American, was sentenced to death in 1991 for the shooting of a white cop. Evidence has since emerged showing police pressured witnesses to identify Davis as the killer. But he has been denied a new trial.

The United States is one of the five countries that carried out 88 percent of executions around the world in 2007. It is the country with the highest incarceration rate in the world. Beyond the workers and farmers put to death by court order, a far higher number are executed on the streets by cops.

The number of prisoners on death row has risen sharply in the last three decades, as the employers’ assault on workers’ wages, job conditions, benefits, and unions has accelerated and met growing resistance from working people. The rulers wield the death penalty to try to instill fear and submission.

The capitalists’ use of the death penalty is part of a broader package of anti-working-class measures—from stepped-up immigration raids and deportations, to loosening restrictions on spying against political organizations. These measures have been adopted with the support of both Democrats and Republicans, including the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act—passed under the William Clinton administration—that severely restricts the ability of death-row prisoners like Davis to get their cases reviewed.

It is only because his family has not given in, and hundreds have rallied and conducted a broad public campaign, that Davis’s execution has been postponed three times. We urge all to demand: Free Troy Davis! Abolish the death penalty! Join the protests!
 
 
Related articles:
Int’l day of action to demand: Stop execution of Troy Davis!  
 
 
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