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Farrell against
death penalty
By Jeanne Hoffa
On-line Forty-Niner
Mike Farrell first
encountered the steamier side of life -- prostitutes, thieves,
junkies, drunks and sexual deviants -- in the late 1960s when
a friend dragged him off to get involved in the Salvation
Army.
The rehabilitation program was intended to help people addicted
to drugs or alcohol, but also provided a safe haven for anyone
who asked ? so it ended up attracting a lot of misfits. Farrell
said he was repeatedly taken aback by the warmth, love and
support he received from these unconventional yet extraordinary
individuals that society often considers expendable.
Since then, his heartfelt desire has been to change the way
people think about others, particularly about what he called
"the least among us."
Monday at 8 p.m. in the Cal State Long Beach Carpenter Performing
Arts Center, Farrell will share his thoughts on violence,
abuse, the meaning of the death penalty and the big picture
on human rights. Audience participation at the free event
is encouraged.
Farrell's mission, to convince people of the cruelty and inconsistency
of the death penalty, has taken him to audiences across the
country. He serves on boards, belongs to commissions, speaks
to governors and legislators ? even presidents.
Prisoners on death row are a cross section of humanity, Farrell
said. When he first visited a death row in Tennessee State
Prison in the late 1970s, he said he was a little scared,
and expected, "all the lore, the horror storied about
slobbering lunatics and deranged, fanged creatures."
What he found were men who had all come from poverty. Many
were black. Some were very tough. All were very grateful that
he had come. They were clearly lonely and needy in an emotional
sense, he said. Many of them seemed embarrassed to be seen
in those circumstances.
"I believe that no one should be executed, guilty or
innocent," Farrell said. "There are appropriate
sanctions which protect society and punish wrong doers without
forcing us to stoop to the least among us at his or her worst
moment."
Farrell said that prisoners are human beings, and quotes Martin
Luther King in his writings on the death penalty.
"Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which
rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation
of such a method is love."
Audience participation is important to Farrell. He said he
is thrilled when someone responds.
"I'm just glad to have the opportunity to talk to people
who really have no personal experience with it," and,
he said he hopes that they will stop and reconsider their
support of sentencing a person to death.
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Mike
Farrell
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