August 12. 2009
O pinion
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Right to Health Care
Consider the needs of the people
They Want to Execute This Guy?
testifying against him.
In fact, seven of the nine state
witnesses have now recanted
or changed their testimony, and
one of the remaining two wit­
by L ora M oye
Troy Anthony Davis has be­ nesses has been identified by
come a symbol of what is wrong several others as the actual
with the death penalty in the killer. No murder weapon was
United States. He has faced found, nor was there any other
three execution dates — and physical evidence linking Davis
could face a fourth — despite to the crime. Yet, in defiance of
the fact that very significant all common sense, our courts
evidence pointing to his inno­ have refused time and time again
cence has never had a hearing to simply hold a hearing to de­
termine the truth.
in open court.
With the tireless campaign­
ing of human rights groups like
Amnesty International, Davis'
case has garnered national and
even worldwide attention. Yet
by the end of September, the
United States Supreme Court
will be deciding whether he lives
To be sure, all systems, in­
or dies.
cluding
our own justice system,
At the heart of our justice
are
imperfect.
They are, after all,
system is the concept of fair­
human
institutions.
The integ­
ness — including that every­
rity
o
f
any
ju
s
tic
e system
one convicted of a crime has
should
not
be
measured
by its
the chance to prove the verdict
inevitable
errors,
but
by
its
abil­
wrong.
ity
to
identify
and
correct
those
T roy D avis has not been
given that chance. He is an Af­ mistakes.
The importance of correcting
rican-A m erican man whose
death sentence for the 1989 kill­ mistakes is at its most profound
ing of a white police officer in and most obvious when an ex­
S av an n ah , G a., w as based ecution is at hand. There can
largely on the word of w it­ be no more egregious miscar­
nesses, many of whom now say riage of justice than the execu­
they were coerced by police into tion of an innocent man.
A verdict in
question
Yet in this country, in this
time, men like Troy Davis are
often denied a fair chance to
challenge their conviction and
prove their innocence. Bureau­
cratic interpretations of arcane
procedural rules prevent com­
pelling evidence from ever get­
ting a hearing, and the essen­
tial fairness of the justice sys­
tem is sacrificed for the sake of
“finality.” Carrying out a death
sentence has become more im­
portant than being sure the
condemned is actually guilty.
There can be no more egregious
miscarriage o f justice than the
execution o f an innocent man.
Accompanying Davis' cur­
rent petition before the Supreme
Court is an amicus brief sub­
mitted by an impressive group
of former judges and prosecu­
tors, including prominent men
like former U.S. Rep. Bob Barr,
former Georgia Supreme Court
Justice Norman Fletcher, former
Deputy U.S. Attorney General
Larry Thompson, and former
FBI Director William Sessions.
They state quite plainly, “The
quality and quantity of the evi­
dence raises the extraordinary
likelihood that Mr. Davis is ac­
tually innocent.”
But does that matter, when
“finality” is at stake? The U.S.
Supreme Court will have a
chance to answer that ques­
tion when it reconvenes on
Sept. 29. In the past, when the
S uprem e C o u rt has been
asked to rule on whether it is
constitutional to execute an
innocent man, it has declined
to do so.
Should the Supreme Court
fail to step up to the plate, it
will fall to the new district at­
torney for Chatham County -
- the Georgia county where the
crime was committed 20 years
ago — to do something. Ap­
peals for him to re-investigate
the case have so far met with
silence, though given the way
the state's case has fallen
apart, this is surely w hat's
needed.
Without a new investiga­
tion or an unlikely Supreme
Court intervention, Tory Davis
could be executed as early as
m id-O ctober, w ithout ever
getting a hearing on whether
he is innocent. No matter how
you feel about capital punish­
ment, this should not be ac­
ceptable.
Laura Moye is director o f
Amnesty International's USA
D eath P e n a lty A b o litio n
Campaign.
Editor's note: The following
is from O regon’s Commission­
ers fo r Black Affairs comprised
o f Sen. Rod Monroe, Clifford
Walker, Everette Rice, Jennifer
Doncan, Phyllis Rand, Carlos
R ichard,
M ariahm
Stephenson, Frank Thompson,
and Willie Woolfolk.
The greatest problem with
today’s health care system is
the rising costs of health care,
which has led to a large number
of Americans left without cov­
erage. It is a fundamental right
of every American citizen to
have universal access to qual­
ity health care.
We-the-people have suffered
enough and have gone without
for far too long. All members of
Congress m ust consider the
needs o f the peo p le who
elected them and work with
P resident O bam a to pass a
comprehensive health care re­
form bill.
President Obama has done
his part by defining the require­
ments for real health care reform
(reducing costs, guaranteeing
choice, and ensuring quality
care for all) and steadfastly pro­
viding three concrete solutions:
1.
Reforming the health
care system, which would ex­
pand coverage, improve qual­
ity, lower costs, honor patient
Corruption Blocks
Economic Recovery
Congressman’s
greed was
not isolated
by J udge
G reg M athis
William Jefferson, a former
Louisiana Congressman who
represented parts of New O r­
leans, was convicted in federal
court last week for accepting
more than $400,000 in bribes.
Jefferson could be sentenced
to more than 20 years in prison
for his crimes.
Though it only took the jury
five days to deliver the verdict,
it will take tax payers much
longer to pay off the trial’s debt;
a sum that includes far more
than court costs.
The G u lf C o ast has p ro ­
gressed slow ly and steadily
since it was hit by Hurricanes
Katrina and Rita in 2005. In New
Orleans, however, many resi-
9:00am - 10:00am
R egistration / Continental B reakfast
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T r » » n \ l » « n n » n / $ 1 i v< v lr»» j w»< b n f t C o m r o t i m l M ’ *
PorfU nd A lum nae Chapter o f D clt^ S igm i
T h e ta S o ro ity Inc P resen ts:
9:50am -10:00am: Welcome - Marian Gilmore
President. Portland Alumnae Chapter o f DST
1 0 :0 0 am - 11:00 am - P anel D iscussion on
M ental and Behavioral Health / Eliminate
Stress fo r Success • Carol Chism LCSW, Leslie
Gregory MSBS, PA-C, Susan Marie PhD,
PMHNP
11 :0 0 a m - 12:00pm
H ealth Inequity / "The State o f Health Care for
s tis o n c
Kom en
— c u re .
African American Women"
"Every W orrtfn Counts Health Summit"
Dr. James Mason - P rovidence H ealth &
S ervices I Tricia Tillm an, MPH, A dm inistrator
Office of M ulticultural H ealth
Lunch Keynotes:
H ealth Issues that Im pact A fric a n
A m erican Women
Portland Community College Cascade
Campus
(C afeteria area)
D ate; August 15th, 2009
T im e : 9 :0 0 am- 3:30 pm
•> Free Door prizes and drawings fo r first
IS to register at the door
No Pre-Registration
(TREE to the Public)
‘ tree Health Screenings, \ endors. & Mammogram
Mobile Yan appointments available.
)’( OHS
1 2 :0 0 pm - 1:0 0 pm
Staying H ealthy / "Let's do it Right"
Dr. N athalie (ohnson
1:0 0 pm - 2 :0 0 pm
Breast Cancer 101 / "African American Women
-"HDENCE
Health & Services
Breast Cancer Awareness & Call to Action"
Gail Brow nm iller - Susan G. Komen for the
Cure Oregon and SW W ashington Affiliate
& M achell Dawson
2:0 0 pm - 3 :0 0 pm
Financial H ealth / "A Penny Wise"
Floreid Walker. Financial Planning Strategist
& D ebbie Stone - PCC W om en’s R esource Ctr.
3 :0 0 pm - 3 :3 0 pm
A ddressing O besity / “Don t Super Size It
Lashondra Lincoln
choice, and hold the insurance
industry and com panies ac­
countable.
2.
Promote scientific and
technological advancem ent
that would aid scientist in find­
ing cures for the many chronic
diseases plaguing American citi­
zens, thereby increasing life
spans, and decreasing suffer­
ing;
3.
Improve and expand
preventative care that would
focus on health ed u catio n ,
health screenings, and invest­
ing in electronic health record
access and keeping.
M illions o f A m ericans are
exp ectin g the new a d m in is­
tratio n to push for these re ­
form s, but the a d m in istra ­
tion can 't enact them w ith ­
out broad and vocal public
support to co nvince a m a­
jo rity o f C o ngressional le g ­
islato rs to dem onstrate p o ­
litical courage and vote in
true healthcare reform .
As a citizen you can help by
making your voice heard. Call
Sen. Ron Wyden at 202-224-
5244, Sen. Jeff Merkley at 202-
224-3753, the Senate switch­
board at 202-224-3121, or the
House switchboard at 202- 225-
3121 and insist that Congress
pass meaningful health care re­
form in 2009.
Portland Coaaunity
Collage-Cascade caapus
N o m d ' i Resource Cantar
For M o r* Inform ation Contact
M a rilyn Boss at f 503> 358-9621 o r
boss. narllyngyaboo. cqa
dents feel that more can - and
should - be done. There are still
n early 6 6 ,0 0 0 u n o ccu p ied
homes in the city, school en­
rollment is at 78 percent of its
pre-Katrina levels, home sales
are down 39 percent from four
years ago and rents have in­
creased by 40 percent in that
same time period.
Charity Hospital, one of the
city’s largest state-run hospitals,
was damaged heavily by Katrina.
It has not reopened and it
doesn’t look it will. Many of the
city’s poor and elderly were able
to receive free and low cost medi­
cal services there; they are now
redirected to hospitals that are
much farther from their homes.
Like the hospital, many local
businesses - dry cleaners, car
repair shops and more - didn’t
reopen after the storm, resulting
in a lack of services to a city that
has so much need. Most impor­
tantly, elected officials from the
area still cannot definitively say
whether or not New Orleans'
levee system is strong enough
to protect the city from a major
hurricane.
Jefferson did not hold office
when he was convicted - he
lost his seat in a December race,
after he was indicted. But his
corruption case is not an iso­
lated one.
According to the FBI, Loui­
siana ranks third in the nation
in public corruption cases. It’s
maddening to think that, in the
midst of all that remains to be
done in both the state of Loui­
siana and in the city o f New
Orleans, local politicians will
abuse their power and ignore
their constituent’s needs in fa­
vor of fattening their pockets.
With Louisiana and New Or­
leans in particular struggling to
rebuild itself nearly four years
after Hurricane Katrina hit, the
local g o v e rn m e n t sim ply
d o esn't have the time or re­
sources to continuously pros­
ecute corrupt public officials.
The state’s attorney is doing
his job by cracking down on
corruption. The politicians need
to step up and do their part by
putting the needs of the people
ahead of their own greed.
Judge Greg Mathis is vice
president o f Rainbow PUSH
and a board m em ber o f the
Southern Christian Leadership
Conference.