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After 22 years on death row, and many years of appeals for justice, Troy Anthony Davis was executed by the state of Georgia last night at 11:08 pm Eastern time. The original time of the execution was set at 7 pm but a last-minute appeal to the US Supreme Court resulted in a temporary reprieve, bringing hope to the hundreds of supporters gathered outside the prison, and to the hundreds of thousands of supporters who were monitoring the situation around the nation and world. However, within 4 hours the Supreme Court issued a single sentence: “The application for stay of execution of death presented to Justice [Clarence] Thomas and by him referred to the Court is denied.” Before Davis was executed in front of the family members of Officer McPhail, who he was convicted of killing, and members of the media, he maintained his innocence one last time. The execution was a major blow to the massive movement that built up around the country and world, which included a significant section of the African American community in Georgia and the rest of the country, a number of high-profile celebrities, elected officials, and even some prominent supporters of the death penalty. Spearheaded by the NAACP and Amnesty International, the movement to save Troy Davis was seen as a test of the the justice system’s fairness toward people of color, as well as the institution of the death penalty itself.

GUEST: Roslyn M. Brock, Chairperson of the National Board of the NAACP

Find out more at www.naacp.org and www.justicefortroy.org.