Our View: Two sides to
Tookie’s jail tale
The death penalty is a black and white issue capable of destructive polarization
to this country. Life or death, which does a convicted man or woman deserve?
Such decisions are difficult and endlessly debatable.
Take the case in point: the recently publicized case of Stanley “Tookie” Williams,
co-founder of the Crips gang and convicted killer of four.
So then, where does the controversy lie? Where does the gray matter reside in
this case of a man convicted of denying four people the right to live, a man
who co-started a gang still instigating violence in places like Los Angeles?
Since his incarceration, Williams has changed and is what many could consider
a prominent example of the reform capable in America’s prisons. He has
been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize five times, created peace treaties for
the Crips and their rival gang, the Bloods, received the president’s Youth
Service Award and even written children’s books with anti-gang messages.
Should this man, now reformed, be granted clemency?
One side believes the death penalty for Williams, despite his apparent reform,
is still appropriate. Williams helped start a violent group that has tragically
harmed people in the United States.
Additionally, the cries of a racial injustice in the judicial system by some
of Williams’ defenders are unjustified. Do they believe only minorities
receive capital punishment, or only non-whites become convicted by the system?
Saying the system is blatantly racist is another unfair example of the “race
card” being pulled.
Williams killed four people, four souls who are no longer living and breathing
today. That is reason enough to receive capital punishment. His reform in prison
is commendable, exemplary and should be how he is ultimately known in the history
books. However, it does not excuse his previous mistakes that may cost him his
life Dec. 13.
The other side believes although Williams should be punished for his atrocious
crimes, his recent actions toward reversing his offenses have granted him the
right to live the rest of his life behind bars. Doing so much for so many even
while in prison shows true reform, reform that should grant Williams the course
of the rest of his lifetime to continue doing good.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, in his review of the pleas to save Williams, should
take into account Williams’ personal change. Who knows, if Williams is
killed prematurely by the capital punishment system, what additional good might
he have done in that time to help make right the wrongs he helped start?
To read more about Williams’ situation from groups advocating his
clemency, visit Tookie.com and savetookie.org.
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