Nisha recently wrote about Iran’s execution of Delara Darabi, wondering why there wasn’t more coverage of the case by mainstream media. Darabi, a juvenile when the crime was perpetrated, having originally confessed to the crime, later recanted, saying she took the blame because her boyfriend said she couldn’t be prosecuted as a juvenile, was secretly executed with no notification to her lawyers, and this after being given a two month stay of execution.

That Iran’s policies are abhorrent is not in doubt. That it would be great if mainstream media covered significant human rights violations as voraciously as they cover celebrity non news, there is no question, yet it’s difficult to find enough outrage to lash out at at our media for not covering Iran’s injustices considering the poor job they do of covering our own, unless of course they involve the murder of a blond college student or the like.

The root of the injustice may be different, ours revolving around a system which favors Caucasians, or those of color with notoriety and ample resources to mount a decent defense, and Iran’s, currently revolving around Shi’a Islamic law, but since when does it matter what spawns the injustice. Our injustice is not more just than theirs. There seems to be little media market for either. It would be nice to see an increase in major media coverage of our own injustices, despite the market. Should that ever happen then they can tread into coverage of the injustices in the rest of the world. Possibly somewhere along the way they can make people care.

Until then it’s Indie media, as Nisha pointed out, and in some cases bloggers.

Let’s take Troy Davis for instance. Troy Davis, a man possibly wrongly accused and convicted of murder and scheduled to death. Mr. Davis is on death row in Georgia, scheduled for execution, his appeals denied, his stay, given after the denial of his last appeal, runs out May 15th. This for a crime that all along he never confessed to, has adamantly denied taking part in. A crime for which most witnesses have recanted their testimony, or admitted to being coerced into giving. A crime for which there is “no physical evidence, no weapon, no motive, no anything”.

Troy Davis – Finality Over Fairness

Talk Left has very little coverage of the case as of recently but I’m going to quote a comment from the last post I can find on it over there, the commenter is “sef” and the comment mimics much of what I have read while investigating this over the last few hours.

The stay order is simply brilliant in that it is written in such dense legalese as baffle lay readers and accessible enough for lawyers to know exactly what they are saying. Specifically, the panel’s order appears to read we think that Troy is likely innocent, we don’t want to live with the idea of executing a man who is more likely than not innocent, however, we also believe AEDPA doesn’t permit us to give him a new trial on his innocence claims.

Troy Davis’ stay of execution is set to expire on May 15. On May 19, groups and individuals all around the world will be organizing demonstrations, vigils, teach-ins or other public events to show the state of Georgia that the execution of Troy Davis would be an unacceptable travesty of justice. We need you to be as visible and as loud as possible!

For more information SJP): SJP is spearheading some blogger action regarding Troy Davis.

The links below are courtesy of SJP:

Fact sheet on Davis’ case

Innocence on Georgia’s Death Row

Where is the justice for me?

Listen to Troy tell his story

Join the discussion

Hear from Troy’s sister

Troy Davis’ website

Shout out to a Kevin from A Slant Truth.

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What a sad world we live in. I’m not talking about a world full of genocide, the starving babies of third world countries, or the prisons in Thailand. I’m talking about institutions in the United States of America meant to serve the ill and needy. I say institution(s) so you don’t assume the one cited in the rest of this story is the only one. You and I can no longer be that naive.

In Maryland if you are financially sound Shepard Pratt has a great mental health facility, “The Retreat at Shepard Pratt“, they of course are non participatory in insurance, but for 1800 dollars a day – even if you are batshit crazy – you are going to be treated like royalty. I’m certain we can find similar facilities all over the nation.
Others are not so fortunate.

A 49 year old women, Esmin Green, died in the ER of Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn. She was a victim of negligent homicide. You see, if you’re poor and crazy people can ignore you, even at places which are theoretically there to help you. The hospital will also feel justified in falsifying records, writing “patient awake and alert, walking to the bathroom” (paraphrase of noted falsified records), when the patient is lying on the chair or floor unconscious, perhaps already dead.

Kings County Hospital, from a three click scroll, tends to ignore people every now and again. In 1991 they did not pay enough attention “to a suicidal patient who escaped her restraints and jumped from a sixth-story window”. Last year they were sued for Inhumane Treatment. This is the pdf of the complaint filed last year against New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation.

No doubt if you are ill, especially mentally ill, have no money, and no advocate in the way of family or friends, you are sunk. In this case the end result was death. I have to wonder how many more of these occur throughout this country on any given day. Deaths covered up by hospital notes, unquestioned deaths not caught on videotape.

How dare people who work in an institution meant to help and heal allow something like this to happen. How dare those who run this facility allow these conditions to persist. How dare the conditions at this facility be ignored for so long.

What baleful specimens of humanity would allow such to happen to another human being?

We’ve seen the enemy…………..

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