Abolish the Racist Death Penalty!

Free Troy Davis!

We print below a letter sent on September 18 to Georgia governor George Ervin Perdue by the Partisan Defense Committee, a class-struggle, non-sectarian, legal and social defense organization associated with the Spartacist League. On September 23, two hours before Troy Davis’ scheduled execution, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a stay pending a decision whether to review his case, which they are due to consider on October 10. The execution warrant has expired, but should the Supreme Court turn Davis down, it is expected that a new death warrant will be issued, and Davis could be executed before the end of this month.

The Partisan Defense Committee joins thousands throughout the world in outrage over the impending execution of Troy Anthony Davis. The death penalty is cruel and barbaric. In the United States it is the racist legacy of centuries of slavery and segregation.

Like many poor and black prisoners on death row, Mr. Davis’ conviction was based on the testimony of “eyewitnesses” who were forced by intimidating policemen to falsely implicate him in the death of a white off-duty police officer. Seven of the key prosecution witnesses have recanted their testimony, many citing police misconduct. But the courts have turned a blind eye to this exculpatory evidence due in large part to the provisions of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 signed by Bill Clinton.

Now your office is preparing to execute Mr. Davis, despite thousands of protests including Amnesty International, a former FBI director and the Pope. We demand this racist barbarity be stopped and that Mr. Davis be freed.