This is a direct effect of the Republican's Contract On America during the 1990s. Bob Barr, who believes that Troy Davis has been wrongfully convicted almost went so far as to say he is directly responsible for it, but even now, he just can't come out and tell the truth. Instead he claims it is the Federal Judiciary's fault for misinterpreting legislation he helped to write and ram through Congress, which gutted habeas appeals for persons incarcerated in US prisons, as a part of a Terrorism Prevention Bill, hammered out in 1995 and 1996. I might even find myself having a bit of respect for Barr, if he'd actually be a REAL Conservative, step-up and accept responsibility for the evil he caused.

There is no abuse of government power more egregious than executing an innocent man. But that is exactly what may happen if the United States Supreme Court fails to intervene on behalf of Troy Davis.
[. . .]
This threat of injustice has come about because the lower courts have misread the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, a law I helped write when I was in Congress. As a member of the House Judiciary Committee in the 1990s, I wanted to stop the unfounded and abusive delays in capital cases that tend to undermine our criminal justice system.

With the effective death penalty act, Congress limited the number of habeas corpus petitions that a defendant could file, and set a time after which those petitions could no longer be filed. But nothing in the statute should have left the courts with the impression that they were barred from hearing claims of actual innocence like Troy Davis’s.
[. . .]
Because Mr. Davis’s claim of innocence has never been heard in a court, the Supreme Court should remand his case to a federal district court and order an evidentiary hearing. (I was among those who signed an amicus brief in support of Mr. Davis.) Only a hearing where witnesses are subject to cross-examination will put this case to rest.
[. . .]
I am a firm believer in the death penalty, but I am an equally firm believer in the rights and protections guaranteed by the Constitution. To execute Troy Davis without having a court hear the evidence of his innocence would be unconscionable and unconstitutional.

Bob Barr-OpEd, "Death Penalty Disgrace", New York Times, May 31, 2009

Barr didn't even state the real name of the legislation he referred to, calling it "the effective death penalty act", when in reality it was titled, "The Antiterrorism And Effective Death Penalty Act Of 1996". Even that name was a far cry from the original title given to it in 1995, "The Comprehensive Terrorism Prevention Act of 1995". The reason for the change in titles was that the Congressional Republicans fought against almost every provision, which could have actually enabled the prevention of terrorist acts in America, and instead used it as a vehicle to gut habeas corpus appeals, which only could laughably be claimed to be an effective means of preventing terrorism, because terrorists are not motivated by how quickly they might be put to death for their actions, should they survive them and be captured. Yet this is exactly what Barr asserted would be the effect of limiting habeas corpus appeals on the House Floor, April 18, 1996, using the dead from the Oklahoma City Bombing as a soapbox:

Mr. Speaker, today the American people have much to be proud of, much to be optimistic about for the future credibility, integrity and ability of our law enforcement system to seek out, prosecute, prevent, and sentence, and carry out sentences effectively, efficiently, and within the bounds of our Constitution in a reasonable period of time.

When I met earlier this year, Mr. Speaker, with the number of individuals who represented the families of victims in Oklahoma and Lockerbie, they did not come to us in the Congress and say the Government needs more wiretap power, give them whatever they need. They did not come to us, Mr. Speaker, and say the Government needs in order to bring justice to us, more power to gain access to personal records without a court order, so give them whatever they need or whatever they want. They did not come to us, Mr. Speaker, and say despite the fact that for over a hundred years we have held a very bright and fine and important line between the functions of our military and protecting our borders and domestic law enforcement, and we need to blur that line, and we need to have the military involved in domestic law enforcement, so give them whatever they want.

No, Mr. Speaker, the families of those victims, of those people who have lost loved ones, colleagues and friends to acts of terrorism, came to us and said give us justice, give us habeas and death penalty reform because the very credibility, all of the confidence that we want to have in our criminal justice system, is being eroded by the failure to deliver that to the American people.

And that is what this bill is about, and I also say, Mr. Speaker, that to those warped minds who might today or tomorrow or 1 year from now or 10 years from now contemplate, irrationally as it may be, an act of terrorism against one of our citizens, against one of our Federal employees, against one of the greatest institutions of this Federal Government, let them think longer and harder about it, as I believe they will, knowing that we have passed this legislation, because it will tell them in no uncertain terms, and they do listen to this; this thought process goes on in their mind. They will know that no longer will they be able to, within our borders or come into our country, and kill our citizens, and destroy our government institutions and know that they will be able to spend the next 25 years laughing at us, thumbing their nose at the families of victims, because they will know because of the work of the gentleman from Illinois and our colleagues on both sides, 91 strong in the Senate, has stood up this day and said no more, never again, enough is enough.

That is the importance of this legislation, and there is no clearer link, no stronger link, Mr. Speaker, between effective antiterrorism legislation and deterring criminal acts of violence in this country than habeas and death penalty reform. The American people are demanding it. Future generations who will have to face the constant problem of terrorism demand it. They know that it will work. They know we must have it.

That is why, Mr. Speaker, this legislation, with the important civil liberties guarantees enshrined in it, is so very important, and that is why I am proud to stand here today as a Representative of the American people, shoulder to shoulder with Mr. Hyde, with Senator Hatch in the other body, and say, yes, we have heard the cries of the American people, we have heard the needs of law enforcement, the National District Attorneys Association, attorneys general all across this country, police chiefs, and sheriffs all across this country that say, contrary to what the gentleman from New York keeps saying, oh, we want more wiretap authority. They have come to us, in writing and in person, on the phone and over the fax machines of this country, and said we need habeas reform. That is the one thing, that most important element, the crown jewel here, that we must have. Let us today give it to the American people.

Bob Barr, Congressional Daily Record, April 18, 1996, DOCID:cr18ap96-43, Pages H3607 - H3608

Signed the petition. The Death Penalty should not even be a part of our judicial process. I was reminded of this case by another post here today, where I recalled a documentary film which chronicled a man facing execution for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was eventually exonerated, thanks in no small part to the documentary film, in which the true murderer admitted his guilt as he sat on death row in another state to the film makers.

Thanks, Synchronicity. This is beyond depressing... and yes, I have had those nightmares...

Republicans have played on and profited from the politics of fear and hate for a very long time now. Ben Franklin's dictum that those who would trade liberty for safety rings truer with each passing day.

People, when you're done signing the petition, please circulate it widely via the follow-up page.

What an unbelievable travesty.