Those are words on the Georgia state seal, which in turn is reproduced on its flag.

It’s a good thing they’re on the seal, because they certainly aren’t present in the government or criminal justice system. By the time you read this, a man who may have been innocent is likely to have been killed by the state. I am not going to get into the pros and cons of the death penalty, but I will say this: If you are going to carry it out, then you have to make sure to the point of 100.00000000000% certainty that the perpetrator is indeed guilty. Seven of nine witnesses recanted, and yet no new trial was ever granted. That doesn’t meet the standard.

When one person kills, he or she has the blood of the victim on his or her hands. When the State kills, the blood is on the hands of every one of us. The State of Georgia killed in my name tonight, and I have to live with that.

WF