William Jelani Cobb, in a blog entry at Loop 21, uses the Troy Davis case to underscore the importance of overhauling death penalties in modern society, saying that it needs to address important issues such as racial bias and mental illness. 

There is everything and nothing left to be said about the case of Troy Davis and the hundreds of people gathered here praying, chanting, singing, shouting and crying their hopes that there would be an outcome other than the death sentence the state plans to impose tonight. The chants and songs are uplifting; the speeches defiant and hopeful but there’s no masking the fact that the Georgia parole board's decision to deny clemency yesterday is the most disheartening development imaginable for those of us who oppose the death penalty.

In the coming months and years we can and we will confront the question of whether the death penalty has any place in modern society. We will have no choice but to grapple with the issues of racial bias, poverty and mental illness impacting the way the death penalty is administered. But the most despair-inducing part of the Troy Davis case is that it is about a much more fundamental question: How willing are we to risk murdering an innocent man? 

Read William Jelani Cobb's entire blog entry at Loop 21.

Like The Root on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.