GEORGIA----
CORRECTIONS OFFICIALS SIGN-ON FOR TROY DAVIS
This morning, 6 retired corrections officials, including Dr. Allen Ault, retired Director of the Georgia Department of Corrections and former Warden of the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison where he oversaw executions for the state, have sent the following letter to Georgia Corrections Officials and Governor Nathan Deal asking them to urge the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles to reconsider the decision they made on Tuesday, September 20, 2011 to deny Troy Davis Clemency despite concerns about his guilt. Davis is scheduled to be executed on Wednesday, September 21 at 7:00pm at Georgia Diagnostics & Classifications Prison in Jackson, Georgia.
Statement:
We write to you as former wardens and corrections officials who have had direct involvement in executions. Like few others in this country, we understand that you have a job to do in carrying out the lawful orders of the judiciary. We also understand, from our own personal experiences, the awful lifelong repercussions that come from participating in the execution of prisoners. While most of the prisoners whose executions we participated in accepted responsibility for the crimes for which they were punished, some of us have also executed prisoners who maintained their innocence until the end. It is those cases that are most haunting to an executioner.
We write to you today with the overwhelming concern that an innocent person could be executed in Georgia tonight. We know the legal process has exhausted itself in the case of Troy Anthony Davis, and yet, doubt about his guilt remains. This very fact will have an irreversible and damaging impact on your staff. Many people of significant standing share these concerns, including, notably, William Sessions, Director of the FBI under President Ronald Reagan.
Living with the nightmares is something that we know from experience. No one has the right to ask a public servant to take on a lifelong sentence of nagging doubt, and for some of us, shame and guilt. Should our justice system be causing so much harm to so many people when there is an alternative?
We urge you to ask the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles to reconsider their decision. Should that fail, we urge you to unburden yourselves and your staff from the pain of participating in such a questionable execution to the extent possible by allowing any personnel so inclined to opt-out of activities related to the execution of Troy Anthony Davis. Further, we urge you to provide appropriate counseling to personnel who do choose to perform their job functions related to the execution. If we may be of assistance to you moving forward, please do not hesitate to call upon any of us.
Respectfully and collegially,
Allen Ault – Retired Warden, Georgia Diagnostic & Classifications Prison
Terry Collins – Retired Director, Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction
Ron McAndrew – Retired Warden, Florida State Prison
Dennis O’Neill - Retired Warden, Florida State Prison
Reginald Wilkinson – Retired Director, Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction
Jeanne Woodford – Retired Warden, San Quentin State Prison
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6 Prison Wardens say to Georgia “Do not kill Troy Davis”
For the past 2 weeks, I have been posting about the Troy Davis case as his execution date (September 21, 2011 at 7:00PM) was fast approaching. Please join me and the other now one million people from around the world that have asked for clemency for Troy Davis.
Below is the most recent email alert related to the Troy Davis case from Georgians For Alternatives to the Death Penalty. The email implores us to continue to take action today to ensure that Georgia does not execute an innocent man.
“Friends,
We have only hours left to stop the execution of Troy Davis. We ask allof you to stay engaged, to stay active. Keep calling on the Parole Board to reconsider its decision, and on the Chatham County(Savannah) District Attorney Larry Chisolm to do the right thing by contactingthe Chatham County’s District Attorney’s office by phone/fax: Telephone: 912-652-7308. Fax: 912-652-7328.
Continue to send a send a letter to Dr. Carlo Musso at Rainbow Medical Associates and urge him torefuse to participate in the execution of Troy Davis. Rainbow Medical Associates is the medical team that assists with Georgia’s executions.
Dr. Carlo Musso, President, and Employees
CorrectHealth
9020 Peridot Parkway
Stockbridge, GA 30281
Fax: 770-692-4754
Here is a statement issued from corrections officials cautioningagainst the execution of Troy Davis because “living with the nightmares issomething that we know from experience.” Please forward this statement far and wide.
If you are use Twitter, please post one or all of these sample messages to help get the word out on the letter from the corrections officials:
Corrections officials urge #TroyDavis #executioners against proceeding, warn of”nightmares” http://bit.ly/r0VFQ5#TooMuchDoubt
6 Prison Wardens say to Georgia”Do not kill #TroyDavis” http://bit.ly/r0VFQ5#TooMuchDoubt
Prison wardens tell GA:”Living with the nightmares is something that we know fromexperience” – don’t #execute #TroyDavisbit.ly/r0VFQ5
We really appreciate the interest in comingout to support tonight. We strongly encourage you to stay in Atlanta and attend the vigil at the Capitol that the Open Door Community is leading. It is always moving and steeped intenets of our social justice movement. The prison is going to be packed. Please stay in Atlanta(or attend a site near you) to show your support.
Here is more information about vigils beingheld around Georgia: http://www.gfadp.org/vigils
Thank you for taking action!”
It is my hope that you will join me and countless others around the world seeking to make sure that justice is served in the Davis Case. It is important to act now to let the state of Georgia – and the world – know that you stand by Troy Davis in his fight for justice by joining the efforts undertaken by Amnesty, NAACP, and countless other organizations to halt this injustice. This is a matter of life and death, and time is running out. (sources: Nichelle Mitchem, gather.com; Georgians For Alternatives to the Death Penalty)
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