SOCIAL SCIENCES

I Am Troy Davis

Marlowe, Jen & with Troy Davis. Haymarket. Sept. 2013. 280p. ISBN 9781608462940. pap. $18. LAW
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OrangeReviewStarAfter three stays of execution and a final appeal to the Supreme Court, Troy Anthony Davis, who was found guilty of the 1989 murder of a police officer in Savannah, was executed by the state of Georgia in 2011. This riveting account, written by his sister, Davis-Correia, and human rights activist Marlowe (coauthor, The Hour of Sunlight: One Palestinian's Journey from Prisoner to Peacemaker), with a foreword by Sister Helen Prejean (Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States), takes readers on an unforgettable journey through Davis's life—one that raises troubling questions about his ordeal at the hands of the legal system. The events surrounding the murder, which occurred late one summer evening, were unclear from the beginning. Eyewitnesses who accused Davis later recanted but were deemed unreliable by some involved in the appeals process. Davis's family, meanwhile, worked tirelessly to support him and make his story known. Many prominent human rights advocates and groups, including Amnesty International, rallied to his cause as his story, and that of his family's struggle, was heard around the world. Davis's last days, during which his nephew presented an appeal on his behalf, are presented here in intimate detail.
VERDICT Essential for those interested in the U.S. justice system in general and the death penalty in particular.
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