Witness Testimony and the Death Penalty: After Troy Davis, a Push for Eyewitness Reform

Nearly a week after the state of Georgia executed Troy Davis, the emotions surrounding his case have calmed. Protestors and reporters have long since dispersed from their vigil outside the prison. The Twitter hashtag #toomuchdoubt — as well as its Wednesday night successor #RIPTroyDavis — is no longer trending.

That's not to say, however, that the case won't continue to have an outsized effect on the criminal justice system in the U.S. While his execution alone — no matter how passionate his supporters — won't bring the death penalty to an end, there is one area where activists are hoping to use Davis' death as an ongoing and emotional rallying cry for reform: eyewitness identification.

More