My Pop has always said there's a big difference between grace and mercy. Grace is when you get something good you don't deserve. Mercy is when you don't get something bad you do deserve.
I've been blessed to have been afforded both in my life. It's difficult to pass it out as freely as it's given, but something to always strive for.
This week, I called and emailed judges, a governor and parole board. I wasn't sure if it was grace or mercy I was seeking for a man I'd never met. I had no way to know whether he was guilty or innocent.
The State of Georgia executed a man found guilty of murdering an off-duty police officer two decades ago. There was no physical evidence; no DNA; no weapon. Seven of the nine witnesses recanted their testimonies with signed affidavits. They said they were pressured by investigators. One of the original jurors testified before the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles that she had too much doubt and would change her verdict. Despite all of that, they voted 3-2 to allow the execution. One vote took one man's life.
With these new revelations, there appeared to be more than a reasonable doubt and the only thing hanging today would be the original jury. But he's dead now. Troy Davis was his name.
I watched the live vigil online. I watched the Davis family finally lose hope. Someone asked me, "What if he really did it?" I don't know. Considering we haven't tried anyone responsible for the Wall Street debacle, or Don Blankenship of Massey Energy for killing 29 miners, it would seem we have room in the court for at least a consideration of new revelatory evidence.
One thing I know for certain is the State of Georgia outsourced the execution and hired a private corporation, ironically named Correct Health, to kill for them. They shelled out $18,000 for the same death drug a veterinarian administers to a condemned dog. Correct Health is doctor-owned. Whatever became of the Hippocratic Oath? The part about "I will not give a lethal drug to anyone if I am asked ..."
Millions of people were holding vigils around the world for Mr. Davis. There was a counter vigil demanding his blood. The mother of the slain police officer seemed ecstatic. I can't imagine how much she misses her son and don't know that most of us wouldn't feel the same.
The same night in Texas another man was executed. Lawrence Brewer was a white supremacist and KKK member who had no remorse for dragging a handicapped African-American, James Byrd Jr. on a 25-foot chain behind his truck, spreading his body over miles of road.
There was little fanfare, save a gathering of Mr. Byrd's family and friends near the place that he died. They asked for Mr. Brewer's life to be spared and publicly forgave him. His sister said hating him would only make her become what had ultimately killed her brother.
Their grace and mercy were a testament to the power of forgiveness. In both executions, the families' feelings didn't change the outcome for the condemned. Hating someone is like taking poison and expecting the other person to die.
Since post-conviction DNA testing began in 1989, there have been 273 exonerations. Seventeen of them were on death row. I have been honored to host two former death row inmates on my radio and television shows. They had been exonerated by The Innocence Project which was working until the last moment to save Mr. Davis. Both men seemed quiet at first, searching my face for skepticism. My radio listeners can tell you they loosened up when I complained about prison food. If I were running for office I'd call it youthful indiscretion, but I'm not. I've made plenty of mistakes in my life and owned them. I was lucky half-my-life ago that a judge saw enough potential and opted not to destroy it with a conviction but empower it with a wake-up call.
My death row guests were not so fortunate. They told me what they had missed; birthdays and funerals, beer, mowing the lawn and a family never realized. And also what they had experienced; their family-by-circumstance. A macabre group of fellow death row inmates with a shared destiny and borne brotherhood. One spoke of his anguished confusion -- seeing these men killed one by one over the years. Neither was compensated for the mistakes made by the prosecution and courts. One of their mothers was there to see the innocent man she had always believed walk out of prison. "My mom always knew when I was lying, and she knew I wasn't."
As long as human beings are running the show there will be human error. Things aren't always as they seem. The most famous death penalty case involved an innocent man condemned at the insistence of the church. Jesus Christ wasn't exonerated by The Innocence Project. He was crucified.
I'm not comparing either one of the men killed this week to Jesus. I'm simply saying we make mistakes. Georgia proved that its death bureaucracy was more important than the life it was supposed to protect. Personally and politically, we'd be our better selves if we embraced mercy and grace over intolerance and revenge.
The time is now to, borrowing from Justice Robert Jackson, for "power to pay tribute to reason," become civilized and end the death penalty.
Shannyn Moore is host of "The Shannyn Moore Show" on KOAN 1020 AM and 95.5 FM radio, and the television show "Moore Up North," on KYES Channel 5.
SHANNYN MOORE
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