Reps. Johnson and Lewis urge Ga. Pardons & Paroles to grant Troy Davis clemency

Congressmen Lewis, Johnson: ‘Justice is at stake’

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Reps. Hank Johnson (GA-04) and John Lewis (GA-05) sent a letter today signed by more than 50 other members of the Congress to the Georgia State Board of Pardons & Paroles, urging the board to stop the killing of Troy Davis.

Johnson has been fighting to stop Davis’ execution since 2007. Davis was convicted of murdering an off-duty police officer in Savannah in 1989.

Since Davis’ 1991 trial, seven of the nine state witnesses against him have recanted their testimony and other witnesses have implicated another man as the shooter.

In 2010, Davis received a federal evidentiary hearing in Savannah, Ga. While the presiding judge ruled that Davis had not established his innocence to the high standard required, he admitted that the case “may not be ironclad.”

“How has it come to this – that we put a man to death without a single shred of hard scientific or relevant physical evidence,” said Rep. Johnson, a former defense attorney who won the release of a man on death row in 1984.

In 2009, Rep. Johnson and Rep. Lewis visited Davis in the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson.

Later that year, Rep. Johnson introduced the Effective Death Penalty Appeals Act, which would ensure that death row inmates have the opportunity to present newly discovered evidence of innocence.

"If we turn our backs to Troy Davis now, we turn our backs on justice and the Constitution," Johnson said.
“This is one of those exceptional instances where adhering to the letter of the law could lead the state of Georgia to commit a grave injustice,” said Rep. John Lewis.

“That is why it is important for people of goodwill to stand together and speak out in this case. The parole board has the power to intervene on the people’s behalf to right a deplorable wrong, especially when there is so much room for doubt about this conviction. I believe the board seeks to do what is just and look forward prayerfully to the upcoming clemency hearing with the faith that justice will prevail.”

To read the letter, click HERE.

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