All citizens are lucky to be living here in a state without the death penalty. The case of Georgia’s Troy Davis highlights some of the many problems that death-penalty supporters have no answers for: the risk of innocent people being executed, inadequate counsel, and racial and economic-status disparities.

Innocent people who are executed suffer an irrevocable punishment and the ultimate denial of due process and civil liberties. There have been 130 exonerations from death row in the United States in the past 35 years, and a good number of inmates have been executed despite serious questions about their guilt. Since Troy Davis’s trial, seven out of the nine witnesses against him have recanted — correcting the story they told in court. Of the two witnesses who did not recant, one did not identify Troy Davis as the shooter until two years later. The other is the alternative suspect in the murder.

While the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles has refused to grant clemency, it has unfettered discretion to revisit the case. Political expediency and embarrassment on the part of prosecutors, governors and even judges can prevent rightful claims of innocence from being heard. When mistakes are made with the death penalty, they often cannot be fixed.

As Rhode Islanders, we do not need to be worried that we will murder innocent victims of our judicial system here in the state. But we need to be hearing of trials such as Troy Davis’s to be reminded why we have historically voted in this way so that we may continue this practice going forward for our children and grandchildren.

JILL CICERO

Providence