The need for certainty trumps our need for revenge.

In 1997, I spent a brief but lovely time with a girl from Chicago.  Had I been braver, it might have lasted longer.  But that's not the story I want to tell.

She introduced me to the story of Alan Beaman, who was convicted in 1993 of a murder in Illinois.  He was a college student at the time, a theatre student, and he spent some of his time in a haze of suspect smoke, skipped some classes, and would occasionally be snarky to his fellows.  He said things in jest that could be taken seriously.  And he had a tumultuous relationship with the victim.

Yes, they had fingerprints in her apartment.  They were lovers.  And there were witnesses, included family, that saw him in Rockford, Illinois, about 140 miles away, at the time of the murder.

But he was a long haired stoner college student; it was a small town and a small town police force; and he was cocky and arrogant.  And he was found guilty and sentenced to 50 years in Joliet.

In 2009, the Supreme Court of Illinois perused the case, realized that there was no actual physical evidence, that the prosecution fudged a little on their evidence, and they threw out the case.  After 16 years, he was free.

The Innocence Project is a worthwhile endeavor.

I am not certain of the death penalty. I've often said that I would be comfortable applying such a permanent sentence when the suspect is caught, standing over the dead body, holding the smoking pistol and yelling, "I got you, I got you, you son of a bitch, and I'd kill you again with this gun in my hand if I had the chance!" But things aren't ever that simple.

Now, Troy Davis is going to be executed tonight in the State of Georgia for a crime he might not have committed.  You've probably heard the news stories, and you've perused the various online databases.  In this case, it's tough to know the truth.

Troy Davis was not an exemplary citizen when the crime was committed.
The victim was an off-duty police officer.
There was no physical evidence linking Davis to the crime.
And there were LOTS of witnesses; most have since recanted or changed their testimony.

So.  You'd think that the powers-that-be would like to take a second look, juuuuust to be sure.
But no.

The cynic in me states that He's a black man in Georgia convicted of killing a white cop.  He's got no chance.  Georgia isn't Alabama, certainly....but it's still Georgia.  Still the South.  And it's an election cycle; it always seems to be an election cycle.

But the law is created by man, for man to obey in the hopes that these laws create an environment where civility thrives.  The people, in the end, should have the final say.  If the people have doubts, the government MUST step in to slow the process...so that justice can be served.

William Blackstone stated, "Better that ten guilty men escape than that one innocent suffer." 

Let us put aside our need for revenge just long enough to be certain.