Troy Davis was murdered by lethal injection, while a white man who admitted to murder was spared from death by the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles.
According to reports, Samuel David Crow was scheduled to be executed on May 22, 2008, in Jackson, Ga. However, three hours after Crowe had his last meal and was preparing to be executed, the board voted to grant him clemency and commute his sentence to life without parole.
In 1988, Crowe killed his former manager, Joseph Pala, at the Lumber Company in Douglass County. Crowe shot Pala three times and beat him viciously with a crowbar. Crowe plead guilty to murder and armed robbery.
In a statement, the board said, “David Crowe takes full responsibility for his crime and experiences profound remorse.” The board also took into account that he was suffering from cocaine withdrawal during the time of the murder.
The blatant injustice and racism displayed by the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles is appalling. The board killed a man whose case was riddled with doubt, but they allowed a guilty man to remain alive.
America’s history of racism can only be fought through laws and hiring practices that reflect diversity. Even with a black president, the U.S. justice system continues to disproportionally kill and imprison blacks with its modern-day form of slavery. –amir shaw
