American Civil Liberties Union:

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The State of Georgia came within hours of executing a man who is almost certainly innocent. This frightening fact shows that our death penalty policies are broken.

Georgia's judicial system has so far failed to consider the compelling new evidence of Mr. Davis's innocence and either exonerate him or at least grant him a new trial and let a jury decide if he is guilty or innocent.

The case of 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.

The Troy Davis case also is an example of a less obvious problem with our criminal justice system -- that the ever-increasing number of procedural hurdles erected by courts and legislators to deny death-row inmates relief and expedite their executions has seriously eroded the system's ability to correct its mistakes.

Had Troy Davis had adequate resources to defend himself, this miscarriage of justice might not have occurred. Like virtually everyone else on death row in this country, Troy Davis is indigent. There are no millionaires on death row.