"World shocked by U.S. execution of Troy Davis"

http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/22/world/davis-world-reaction/index.html

My reaction? Good. I'm glad so many people still have a conscience. Shock is the appropriate reaction to an event like this.

Yesterday, Georgia executed Troy Davis, a man convicted of killing a police officer. Seven out of nine witnesses later recanted their testimony, casting a large shadow of possibility that this man was innocent of this crime.

In the days leading to the execution, the case received attention from news networks worldwide. There were protests in France, pleas of clemency from the Pope and former U.S. president Jimmy Carter, but at 11:08 pm EDT, Troy Davis was declared dead. He maintained his innocence during his final words.

This series of events has put a fire under the debate of the death penalty. In the end Troy Davis may be a figurehead, a martyr, leading to the abolishing of this practice I'm ashamed to say is still an American institution. I can only hope this the catalyst that starts a serious restructuring of our entire prison system.

I feel that America is above the death penalty. It's a brutal solution to the complex problem of what to do with our most serious offenders, but we should not settle for the easiest answer, especially when a life is on the line. The sooner the death penalty is relegated to the history books, the better off we will be. It's an important milestone in social justice, many other countries have abolished the death penalty, and I'm not satisfied with the excuse of 'this is just how America does it'.

We can do better.