NAACP Turns To Social Media To Help Stop Georgia Execution

This may be Troy Davis’ last chance to live.

Davis was convicted and sentenced to death in 1991 for the 1989 murder of off-duty Savannah police officer Mark Allen MacPhail. Davis’s conviction was based largely on eyewitness testimony and, in the intervening years, the case against him has fallen apart. Seven of the nine witnesses against Davis have recanted or contradicted their testimony and three of those witnesses now claim their testimony was coerced. In addition, two other witnesses have stated they never saw the murder and that their testimony was false. No physical evidence links Davis to the crime. Still, the Georgia Department of Corrections plans to execute him later this month.

Now 42, Davis has been in prison for more than 19 years.

In addition to organizing marches, a hallmark of the NAACP, the nation’s oldest civil rights organization is fighting Davis’ pending execution by using Twitter, blogs and even Youtube. The organization has also created a mobile petition. The NAACP is encouraging the community to text “TROY” to 62227 to add names to a petition to save his life.

“With the execution set for Sept. 21, there is very little that can be done but the NAACP is not letting this man go down without a fight. Thankfully, technology is at our disposal and could potentially be what helps saves a life,” states BlackWeb2.0, a website helping to get the word out about Davis.

On Monday, Sept. 19, two days before the scheduled execution, Davis will have a clemency hearing in front of the five-member Georgia State Board of Pardons and Parole. At the end of the hearing, the Board will decide, via majority vote, whether to grant Davis clemency.

Though he was denied clemency in the past, the board’s membership has changed since Davis’ last hearing and, in the interim, new witnesses have come forward.

With the clemency hearing and the execution date fast approaching, the NAACP realizes the best, and fastest, way to get out its message and to mobilize is the internet.

This is Davis’ last chance, states a page dedicated to Davis on the NAACP’s website.

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• Text “TROY” to 62227 to add your name to a petition to save Troy Davis’ life. Or
• Take action by signing this online Amnesty International petition opposing the death penalty for Troy Davis.