Between The Lines - Laura Moye: International Campaign to Stop the Execution of Troy Davis (Week Ending Sept. 23, 2011)

Award-winning Investigative Journalist Robert Parry (1949-2018)

Award-winning investigative journalist and founder/editor of ConsortiumNews.com, Robert Parry has passed away. His ground-breaking work uncovering Reagan-era dirty wars in Central America and many other illegal and immoral policies conducted by successive administrations and U.S. intelligence agencies, stands as an inspiration to all in journalists working in the public interest.

Robert had been a regular guest on our Between The Lines and Counterpoint radio shows -- and many other progressive outlets across the U.S. over four decades.

His penetrating analysis of U.S. foreign policy and international conflicts will be sorely missed, and not easily replaced. His son Nat Parry writes a tribute to his father: Robert Parry’s Legacy and the Future of Consortiumnews.

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The Resistance Starts Now!

Between The Lines' coverage and resource compilation of the Resistance Movement

"The man who predicted Trump presidential win now says Trump impeachment could happen," AM Joy with Joy Reid, MSNBC, Jan. 21, 2018
"Sketchy Kazakh money finds its way into Trump dealings," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Red flags seen in many Trump real estate deals," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Secret Money: How Trump Made Millions Selling Condos To Unknown Buyers," BuzzFeed, Jan. 12, 2018
"The Scandals of Donald Trump: Presidential Edition," The Atlantic, May 15, 2017
"Here's what we know so far about Team Trump's ties to Russian interests," Washington Post's ongoing compilation
"What Comey Was Investigating, Explained," The Moscow Project, Center for American Progress

"Donald Trump's Financial Ties to Russian Oligarchs and Mobsters Detailed In Explosive New Documentary from the Netherlands," Dutch TV documentary, Alternet.org, May 12, 2017
Ongoing compilation of Trump's creeping authoritarianism," MotherJones.com
Full resource list ...

SPECIAL REPORT: "The Resistance - Women's March 2018 - Hartford, Connecticut" Jan. 20, 2018

Selected speeches from the Women's March in Hartford, Connecticut 2018, recorded and produced by Scott Harris

SPECIAL REPORT: "No Fracking Waste in CT!" Jan. 14, 2018

Jen Siskind Jennifer Siskind, local coordinator for Food and Water Watch, describes the campaign to stop fracking waste in Connecticut, which so far has led to fracking waste bans in 34 towns around the state. Interviewed by Richard Hill on Mic Check, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT

SPECIAL REPORT: "Resistance Round Table: The Unraveling Continues..." Jan. 13, 2018

Lindsay Kanaly The panel discusses Trump's long history of racism and the Republican voter suppression juggernaut confronting Democrats leading up to the 2018 elections. Special guest: Lindsay Kanaly, a lead organizer of the Women's Marches planned for Jan. 20, 2018. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill on Resistance Roundtable, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT.

SPECIAL REPORT: "Capitalism to the ash heap?" Richard Wolff, Jan. 2, 2018

Richard Wolff, Economics professor Richard Wolff declares U.S. capitalism to be beyond repair and suggests the need for a radical alternative. Interviewed by Richard Hill

SPECIAL REPORT: Maryn McKenna, author of "Big Chicken", Dec. 7, 2017

Maryn McKenna, investigative journalist and author of Big Chicken, talks about the widespread use and dangers of antibiotics in commercial poultry, beef and fruit production. Interview by Bill Duesing, Richard Hill and Guy Beardsly on WPKN's Organic Farm Stand.

SPECIAL REPORT: Nina Turner's address, Working Families Party Awards Banquet, Dec. 14, 2017

Nina Turner, president of Our Revolution, talks about the fight ahead for progressives as she receives the Working Families Organization Award for Exceptional Leadership Towards Advancing Progress. The event was held in Meriden, CT. Produced by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Dec. 12, 2017

Working Families Party of CT talks strategy and issues for 2018.
Lindsay Farrell, executive director of the Working Families Party of Connecticut, discusses the state's electoral landscape and lays out the issues and strategies that could lead to progressive victories in 2018. Interviewed by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Dec. 9, 2017

Disturbing developments in the Trump/Republican Agenda
Focus on the tax bill, destruction of our public lands, North Korea and Trump's private CIA. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill. Special guest: Jo Macallero of Rise and Resist.

SPECIAL REPORT: On Tyranny - one year later, Nov. 28, 2017

Professor Timothy Snyder, author of the highly acclaimed resistance manual On Tyranny, discusses his book and offers a fresh assessment of the state of our beleaguered republic. Timothy Snyder, history professor at Yale, is introduced by Stanley Heller, administrator of Promoting Enduring Peace, a Connecticut-based organization that sponsored this event at the United Church Parish House in New Haven on Nov. 28. A brief interview with Snyder conducted by WPKN radio producer, Richard Hill, follows his talk.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Nov. 12, 2017

Lynne Ide, director of program and policy with the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut, talks about the current state of health care coverage in Connecticut. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Nov. 11, 2017

Focus on the Republican tax plan, the just-released autopsy on the Democratic Party, and Internet censorship by Google, Facebook and Youtube. Including an interview with Hilary Grant, a lead organizer with Action Together Connecticut, who discusses the local results of the recent election, with hosts Richard Hill, Scott Harris and Ruth Baumgartner WPKN producers

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Two leaders from Redneck Revolt, an anti-racist, anti-capitalist movement, talk about their work organizing with white working class people in Suffolk County, New York. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Bruce Gagnon, coordinator for the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, describes the extent of -- and motives underlying -- the vast US network of military bases around the globe. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resisting U.S. JeJu Island military base in South Korea, Oct. 24, 2017

Joyakol, South Korean peace activist and singer, discusses the crisis on the Korean peninsula and focuses on the resistance to the U.S. huge military base being constructed on Jeju Island. The event was sponsored by the Greater New Haven Peace Council and this audio was recorded by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.
Joyakol discusses Americans' biggest misconceptions about the conflict between North and South Korea and the U.S., Interview by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.

SPECIAL REPORT: John Allen, Out in New Haven

John Allen, founding director of the New Haven Pride Center, Connecticut, talks about his new LGBTQ television show, Out in New Haven, which presents a range of political and cultural issues to the community. Interviewed by Richard Hill on WPKN's Rainy Day Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018.

2017 Gandhi Peace Awards

Promoting Enduring Peace presented its Gandhi Peace Award jointly to renowned consumer advocate Ralph Nader and BDS founder Omar Barghouti on April 23, 2017.

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THANK YOU TO EVERYONE...

who helped make our 25th anniversary with Jeremy Scahill a success!

For those who missed the event, or were there and really wanted to fully absorb its import, here it is in video

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 1 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 2 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Between The Lines on Stitcher

Between The Lines Presentation at the Left Forum 2016

"How Do We Build A Mass Movement to Reverse Runaway Inequality?" with Les Leopold, author of "Runaway Inequality: An Activist's Guide to Economic Justice,"May 22, 2016, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The City University of New York, 860 11th Ave. (Between 58th and 59th), New York City. Between The Lines' Scott Harris and Richard Hill moderated this workshop. Listen to the audio/slideshows and more from this workshop.

Listen to audio of the plenary sessions from the weekend.

JEREMY SCAHILL: Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker "Dirty Wars"

Listen to the full interview (30:33) with Jeremy Scahill, an award-winning investigative journalist with the Nation Magazine, correspondent for Democracy Now! and author of the bestselling book, "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army," about America's outsourcing of its military. In an exclusive interview with Counterpoint's Scott Harris on Sept. 16, 2013, Scahill talks about his latest book, "Dirty Wars, The World is a Battlefield," also made into a documentary film under the same title, and was nominated Dec. 5, 2013 for an Academy Award in the Best Documentary Feature category.

Listen to Scott Harris Live on WPKN Radio

Between The Lines' Executive Producer Scott Harris hosts a live, weekly talk show, Counterpoint, from which some of Between The Lines' interviews are excerpted. Listen every Monday evening from 8 to 10 p.m. EDT at www.WPKN.org (Follows the 5-7 minute White Rose Calendar.)

Counterpoint in its entirety is archived after midnight ET Monday nights, and is available for at least a year following broadcast in WPKN Radio's Archives.

You can also listen to full unedited interview segments from Counterpoint, which are generally available some time the day following broadcast.

Subscribe to Counterpoint bulletins via our subscriptions page.

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International Human Rights Groups Campaign to Stop Georgia Execution of Troy Davis

RealAudio MP3

Posted Sept. 14, 2011

Interview with Laura Moye, Death Penalty abolition campaign director at Amnesty International USA, conducted by Melinda Tuhus

Troy Davis is an African American man who's been sitting on Georgia's death row for 20 years. Though no physical evidence linked him to the 1989 murder of police officer Mark Allen MacPhail, nine witnesses testified that he was the killer. Since then, seven of these witnesses have recanted their testimony, declaring that they were pressured by law enforcement to wrongly point to Davis. However, Georgia’s judicial system has chosen to believe only what these witnesses stated on the record during the trial 1991.

One of two witnesses who has not changed his original testimony is Sylvester "Red" Coles — one of the early principle suspects. According to defense attorneys, there is new evidence implicating him in the shooting. Nine individuals have signed affidavits implicating Sylvester Coles in the murder.

Davis has seen three other execution dates come and go. But now, after all his appeals and efforts to be granted a new trial have been exhausted, Troy Davis faces execution on Sept. 21. Amnesty International is part of a worldwide campaign to convince Georgia’s government to stop Davis’ execution. Between The Lines’ Melinda Tuhus spoke with Laura Moye, Death Penalty Abolition campaign director at Amnesty International USA, who talks about Davis' case and the goals of the global effort on his behalf.

LAURA MOYE: We were starting our campaign; in February 2007, he received a July execution date. Since that time, his case has taken a number of twists and turns in the legal system. He's had three execution dates and three stays of execution, and we've been campaigning very hard from 2007 and bringing in coalition partners like the NAACP and other organizations to join voices and to build what has really become a very vibrant movement. Now hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people have been signing the petition for clemency. Even our own petition, since the execution warrant was issued this past Tuesday, we've had over 100,000 signatures in one week alone; it doesn't count the hundreds of thousands that have accumulated for a longer period of time.

So, we've been trying to educate people about the problems in Troy Davis's case and the fact that the legal system has completely failed in terms of taking very seriously the issue of whether his conviction is still reliable. The legal process has been very narrowly focused on legal procedure and technicality; it has not really been an adequate safety net for someone with an innocence claim. He had an evidenciery last year in Savannah in a federal court. You know, this is a case that does not have physical evidence. His lawyers presented witness testimony, but at the end of the day the judge has to either say he believes the witnesses now or he doesn't.

And so, the very same witnesses who Troy Davis's death sentence relies on are the very same witnesses that the courts won't believe today. And almost none of them have stood by their trial testimony. So it's very disturbing to us. Troy Davis has the burden of proving his innocence. Once he was convicted there's no longer this reasonable doubt standard, and we think that no execution should be going forward when there's any doubt as to a person's guilt. There can't be any alternative explanation of the facts when you're talking about the irreversible sentence of death, and of course this is why we oppose the death penalty -- we think it's too much power, the risks are too high, when we allow the state to carry out this unnecessary and brutal punishment.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Laura Moye, what does Amnesty International want for Troy Davis? Clemency? A new trial?

LAURA MOYE: Well, you know, Troy Davis has tried to seek a new trial and he did not succeed in winning a new trial, and now at this juncture, the only option available to him that we understand is for the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles, which has clemency power in Georgia – it's not up to the governor in Georgia, ;it's up to this five-member panel – there is one option right now, and it's for this board to vote to stay his execution, to grant him clemency and to commute his sentence to life or life without parole.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Troy Davis has already served 20 years on death row. Would it be possible that he could be released with time served?

LAURA MOYE: Yeah, if they commute his sentence to life there's a chance that he could be paroled out. We'll just have to see what the board is willing to do. But our immediate concern is to make sure that that execution does not go forward.

BETWEEN THE LINES: I know Troy Davis's sister, Martina Correia, has been working tirelessly for her brother's release. Do you work with her, or on parallel tracks?

LAURA MOYE: We've been working very closely with the Davis family for a long time. In fact, Martina and I both co-founded Georgians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty state coalition back in 1999. She's a member of Amnesty International and has been a leader in the organization and when she brought to our attention the case of her brother, we thought there were some very salient issues that merited closer attention and a bigger effort that has really grown as more and more people have connected with the story.

BETWEEN THE LINES: What can listeners do in the next week if they want to stop the execution of Troy Davis?

LAURA MOYE: We would love for people to go to our website, JusticeforTroy.org, and if you go there you'll find a number of actions that you can take. The most important one is to sign the petition calling on the board to grant clemency. But you can also follow us on Twitter. We have a Too Much Doubt campaign where we're tweeting doubts in the case on a daily basis; there are some celebrities that are involved with that too. We have a bunch of events that are happening around the world and around the country. September 16 is our global day of solidarity for Troy Davis; we have a major event in Atlanta, a march and prayer service. And there will be events in many cities around the world on the same day to show the global solidarity for Troy Davis and to send a message to the state of Georgia that it doesn't need to execute Troy Davis and it ought to stop the execution for the sake of human rights and to make sure it doesn't commit what could be an unthinkable error by executing someone who may well be innocent.

For more information on the campaign to stop Troy Davis’ execution, visit www.JusticeforTroy.org