I got this from UMC-GBCS

An Urgent Plea to Clergy to Petition to Save Troy Davis' Life
Dear Jay,

Troy Davis is scheduled to be executed by the state of Georgia on October 27 at 7 pm, even though serious claims of innocence have never been heard in court.

Clergy can take action today and sign a petition that encourages Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue to prevent this execution. If you are clergy, or if you can urge your pastor to sign the letter (shown below), please contact Brian Evans with Amnesty International who is collecting the information. Brian's email is bevans@aiusa.org and his phone number is 202-544-0200, ext. 496. Please include your name, title, church name, mailing address, phone number, and email address. Please act now as the deadline for signing on is October 23rd.

Be sure to spread this to friends, family, and fellow church members to help spare Troy Davis' life.

About Troy Davis

Troy Davis was convicted of murder solely on the basis of testimony by witnesses. Seven of the nine non-police witnesses have since recanted or changed their testimony, with several implicating possible police coercion. However, due to an increasingly restrictive appeals process, none of this new evidence has ever been heard in court. You can find out more about Troy Davis here.



Clergy Letter to Governor Perdue

Dear Governor Perdue,

We the undersigned clergy write to you as the chief political leader of your state. As leaders in our respective faith communities, we all find within our teachings a divine directive to support justice in the world and to uphold the sacredness of life. As Governor, you too bear a responsibility to support and promote justice for the people of Georgia. As such, our faith compels us to share with you our concern for Troy Anthony Davis, who faces execution by the state of Georgia on behalf of its citizens.

Almost twenty years ago, a police officer was tragically murdered in Savannah. We are deeply troubled that an innocent man may be executed for this awful crime. Should the state of Georgia carry out the execution of Troy Davis on October, 27, it is possible that justice will be denied for both Davis and Officer Mark Allen MacPhail.

We are distressed by the inability of the appeals courts to provide a hearing or new trial to examine evidence that Troy Davis did not murder Mark MacPhail. We are distressed that in a case based solely on witness testimony the unprecedented number of witness recantations has not impressed the courts enough to re-examine the case. We are distressed that the appeals process has become so restrictive that the bar for proving innocence has become virtually unattainable. Finality and procedure must never be deemed of higher importance than questions of innocence and truth in the pursuit of justice, especially when human life is at stake.

In 2005, despite his feeling that Robin Lovitt was guilty of murder, enough doubts emerged to suggest his innocence so that Governor Mark Warner of Virginia commuted the sentence of death to life in order to prevent the possibility of a wrongful execution. The Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles has the same option. Questions of innocence in the Davis case have not been resolved in a court of law. Such questions weigh very heavily on our hearts. Commuting Davis's sentence to life would affirm the principle that doubt is not acceptable in the application of a system that irreversibly takes human life.

We are aware that executive clemency power in Georgia rests in the hands of the State Board of Pardons and Paroles. We are also aware that the board acts on behalf of the executive branch of government and is a governor-appointed body. We believe that the reputation of your state is on the line. The faith Georgia citizens have in the justice system is also on the line. We believe you have tremendous influence and moral authority as the leader of your state. We pray that you will ask God for guidance on how best to use the prestige of your office to ensure that a terrible, but preventable, tragedy does not befall your state on October 27.

Yours truly,

[List of endorsers]

Thank you for taking action. The barbarity of the death penalty must be abolished, but until we achieve universal abolition we must work to save every life.

In Christ,

Bill Mefford
Director, United Methodists Against the Death Penalty