"It is better to let nine guilty men free than to convict one innocent man." On Thursday September 23, 2011 Troy Davis was executed in the state of Georgia. I found this event extremely disturbing because for over twenty years Davis had maintained his innocence and had many organizations and influential people backing up his argument.
Besides the faulty process that the case underwent, I believe that this execution speaks mainly to the too often occurring case where innocent people are convicted of crimes they did not commit. My uncle Thomas Breen, one of the leading defense lawyers in Chicago, has fought tirelessly throughout his career to end the death penalty in Illinois and get innocently convicted people out of jail. Growing up in a state that does not currently recognize the death penalty I have always believed that people who have been convicted have a second chance no matter what. However, after researching the Troy Davis case I have learned that as a nation, America does not share that idea.
I think that it is sad that some states still allow the death penalty as a means of punishment, if convicting a person in a case where there are significant amounts of reasonable doubt then putting them to death is not cruel and unusual punishment then what is?
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