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N o vem b er 10, 2010
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Don’t Believe the Hype!
Your vote counted
on Nov. 2
that we in fact voted much higher than exit
polls reflected.
Don't believe the hype, Black folks
voted!
by M elanie C ampbell
We did not underestimate the
I would like to thank
power of technology in getting the
all voters for taking the
vote out. Our Black W om en's
time to exercise their
Roundtable and Black Youth Vote!
right to vote in the Nov.
organizers tweeted, blogged, utilized
2 mid-term elections.
Facebook and other sites to rein­
The preliminary re­
force the necessity to let your voice
ports we received from
be heard by voting in 2010.
the ground reflected that
Building the capacity of the black
black folks voted, espe­
civic sector will require increasing
cially women, in strong numbers in many the use of technology to register, educate,
states, contrary to some media reports engage and mobilize our youth and the
stating the minority and youth vote was broader black electorate.
low based on exit polls. Let us not forget
We also witnessed several historic mo­
that exit polls have not been very reliable ments in American politics for Demo­
in past national elections.
crats, Republicans and women including
It is amazing to me how pundits jump to a major shift in political power with Re­
the conclusion that when Democrats lose publicans taking control of the House of
that 'black folks and youth must have Representatives and winning several state­
stayed home,' only to find that when the wide races in key battleground states. We
official numbers come out weeks later, it also witnessed the Democrats retaining
usually turns out to be just the opposite control of the Senate.
Other historical votes saw the first
African American woman elected to the
U. S. Congress in Alabama (Terri Sewell-
Democrat); the first African American
Republican elected to Congress since 2003
in South Carolina. (Tim Scott); the first
African American woman elected State
Attorney General of California. (Kamala
Harris—Democrat); and the first black
immigrant woman elected Lt. Governor
of Florida (Jennifer Carroll-Republican,
born in Trinidad).
Other historic wins for minority candi­
dates saw the country’s only African
American governor re-elected to a second
term in M assachusetts (Gov. Deval
Patrick-D em ocrat); the first African
American Republican elected to Congress
in Florida (Alan West-Republican); the
first Hispanic woman elected governor in
New Mexico. (Susana M artinez-Repub­
lican); the first woman elected gover­
nor of South Carolina (Nikki Haley -
Republican, whose parents were born
in India); and a majority-minority dis­
trict elected an African American to the
U. S. Congress in Louisiana. (Cedric
Richm ond-Dem ocrat).
Many pundits believe the overall results
of the elections were a vote against Presi­
dent Obama and his bold policy agenda.
Others believe that the American people
want our elected officials to find common
ground to work together to turn our
economy around to create jobs, educate
our children to compete in a global society
and other solutions to our nation's chal­
lenges.
One thing that is for certain, your vote
counted and it's up to each of us to hold
our elected officials accountable, no mat­
ter the party, to serve our interests, not
just for the few, but for all of the American
people.
I thank you again for raising your voice
by voting. Remember, together, we are
the change we are looking for.
Melanie Campbell is the president and
chief executive officer o f the National
Coalition on Black Civic Participation
and convener o f B lack W om en's
Roundtable.
Preventing Wrongful Executions
We need a
common sense
approach
by
L arry C ox
Im agine being
locked up on death
row for 20 long
years with no physi­
cal evidence linking
you to the crime.
You've been con­
victed thanks to "eyewitnesses,"
most of whom have changed their
stories. How would you feel as
you face the executioner?
Troy Davis knows. He was
sentenced to death in 1991 for the
killing a Savannah, Ga., police
officer. No murder weapon was
found. Most witnesses who im­
plicated him have now recanted,
save one who many believe is the
actual killer. Davis has continued
to maintain his innocence while
facing, and surviving, three ex­
ecution dates.
In June, the U.S. Supreme
Court mandated a hear­
ing featuring some of
these witnesses, but the
judge presiding over the
hearing ruled that Troy
Davis had not proven his
innocence. The judge
wrote in his decision it
would be wrong to ex­
ecute an innocent person
-- something that, unbelievably,
the U.S. Supreme Court has never
definitely stated - but that in this
type of hearing innocence had to
be proven to an "extraordinarily
high" degree, with "clear and con­
vincing evidence." Troy Davis
could not clear that hurdle.
I attended Troy Davis' hearing
on June 23. The utter confusion
of conflicting stories, testimo­
nies, and statements made it vir­
JJnrtlanb (Dbsrmer
Established 1970
USPS 959-680
4747 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Portland, OR 97211
tually impossible to find clarity,
let alone innocence. I watched as
four witnesses admitted they lied
at trial, four witnesses implicated
another man as the killer, and
three witnesses described police
coercion during questioning.
The next day, many of the
state's witnesses told a contrary
tale. Without any solid physical
evidence available, which could
have been scientifically tested, it
was impossible for anything to
seem "clear and convincing." So
it's not surprising that Davis
couldn't prove his innocence to
the level the judge required — but
it would be an outrage if Georgia
were to execute him.
Eyewitnesses are notoriously
unreliable. According to the In­
nocence Project, more than 75
percent of wrongful convictions
are due, at least in part, to faulty
eyewitness testimony. Witness
testimony is open to interpreta­
tion and "he said/she said" guess­
work. It leaves a lot of room for
doubt.
So what happens when the
only evidence available is witness
testimony? Can you pass the
judge's "clear and convincing" test
under those circumstances? Per­
haps, if your witnesses happen to
be extremely reliable. But for
Davis, the very same witnesses
whose credibility led to convict­
ing him in 1991 were found to be
unreliable in 2010. The bottom
line: there is no guarantee that the
wrongly convicted will have
"clear and convincing" evidence
of their innocence.
Following Troy Davis' first
clemency hearing in July 2007,
the Georgia Board of Pardons and
Paroles declared that they would
"not allow an execution to pro­
ceed in this state unless and until
its members are convinced that
there is no doubt as to the guilt of
the accused."
In September of this year,
Gov. Ted Strickland of Ohio
used the same reasoning in com ­
muting Kevin Keith's death sen­
tence, stating while he believed
"it is far more likely that Mr.
Keith com m itted these m ur­
ders," he would grant clemency
due to "real and unanswered
questions" in his case.
This is the commonsense ap­
proach if we want to prevent
wrongful executions. Georgia
should take heed as a possible
fourth execution date looms on
the horizon for Troy Davis. If we
really want to avoid putting the
innocent to death, we should in­
sist on removing all doubt about
guilt, rather than demanding "clear
and convincing" proof of inno­
cence.
Larry Cox is the executive di­
rector o f Amnesty International
USA.
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