Monday, December 12, 2005

TOOK TOOK TOOKIE -- GOODBYE



The Governor of California decided not to grant clemency to Tookie Williams.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger refused to spare the life of Stanley Tookie Williams, the founder of the murderous Crips gang who awaited execution early Tuesday in a case that stirred debate over capital punishment and the possibility of redemption on death row. Williams, 51, is set to die by injection at San Quentin State Prison after midnight for murdering four people in two 1979 holdups.

Hollywood stars and death penalty opponents mounted a campaign to save his life, making him one of the nation's biggest death-row cause celebres in decades. His supporters argued that the founder of the murderous Crips gang had made amends during more than two decades in prison by writing a memoir and children's books about the dangers of gangs.

Prosecutors and victims' advocates contended Williams was undeserving of clemency from the governor because he did not own up to his crimes and refused to inform on fellow gang members. They also argued that the Crips gang that Williams co-founded in Los Angeles in 1971 is responsible for hundreds of deaths, many of them in battles with the rival Bloods for turf and control of the drug trade.

Williams stands to become the 12th California condemned inmate executed since lawmakers reinstated the death penalty in 1977 after a brief hiatus.

Williams was condemned in 1981 for gunning down a clerk in a convenience store holdup and a mother, father and daughter in a motel robbery weeks later. Williams claimed he was innocent.

When it comes to the death penalty, I am a hypocrite.

First, I am against the death penalty. I don't think the government should execute people.

That said, and here comes the hypocritical part, if a loved one of mine was murdered, I would want the person responsible to receive the death penalty. I would not want that person to live to see another sunrise.

I try to be consistent in terms of upholding the sanctity of life.

Although there is a dramatic difference between killing innocent life, (like slaughtering the unborn, or sentencing a disabled individual, such as Terri Schiavo, to death by starvation and dehydration), and executing a murderer, someone with blood on his hands, I still can't support the death penalty -- in theory.

It is wrong to take a life for a life.

However, when I take the matter out of the abstract and think of it in concrete terms, when I think of someone I love being taken away from me, I would want the killer dead.

Since I've never been in that position, I can't be certain; but I doubt that I could muster the Godliness it would take to forgive.

So, I think the death penalty should be abolished; yet I would want it enforced if my loved one was murdered.

I'm a hypocrite.

More than any other moral issue, I struggle with the death penalty. I know what stance I should take; but I know what stance I would take if I lost someone dear to me.

When it comes to the specifics of the Tookie Williams case, I am unfamiliar with the intricacies of the matter, so I am limited in my comments.

I will say that I think it is a despicable affront to the memories of Tookie's victims that the Hollywood community has turned the man into a saint.

He wrote a few books. So what?

I guess Tookie didn't realize that being an author was a career option when he founded the Crips.

His supporters claim that Tookie is such a positive force in the effort to direct young people away from gangs that it would be a crime to silence this good man.

While I do not think Tookie should be executed (in theory), I cannot stand his canonization by the Left. He's not a hero. In all likelihood, he directly and indirectly destroyed many more lives than he could ever hope to save.

Perhaps the ultimate, best message that Tookie can hope to send to the young people who are gang members or those contemplating joining a gang will be made at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday.

Choices have consequences.


The New York Times is already mourning the loss of Tookie.

6 comments:

R said...

Arnold should deny clemency to Stanley “Tookie” Williams. It's time for his victims to have their day of reckoning.

People calling for clemency on behalf of Stanley Williams should remember this: This is the Stanley Williams who co-founded the Crips, setting in motion a legacy of wanton violence. Los Angeles had a history of gangs, but the Crips took gang violence beyond community turf wars. They were known for drive-by shootings and armed robberies, for cruising foreign neighborhoods and picking fights. Membership multiplied quickly, thanks to their fierce reputation, and new gangs formed to protect themselves from their aggression -- including a rival supergang, the Bloods. Since then, hundreds of spinoff Crips gangs have been formed, not only in the United States but also in Belize, Switzerland and South Africa.

If Hitler had lived beyond WWII, been put in prison, and decided to write books condemning the atrocities that took place, would society have spared his life? If Osama bin Laden comes out of hiding and denounces the actions of all who kill in the name of Allah, will society spare his life? The answer is NO to each of these questions. This is the same reason why the execution of Tookie is just. Many lives have been lost due to the gang he founded and the teachings that went along with that. The fact that his philosophy on life has changed does not change the fact that his choices earlier in life caused the death of many.

Mark said...

Mary, here is all you need to know about Stanley Williams:

http://www.lacountyda.org/pdf/swilliams.pdf

I support the Death Penalty. Executing a murderer is a far cry from killing the innocent.

I posted a comment on this same subject (you stole my title!)

Poison Pero said...

Here's all you need to know about Dookie Williams.
http://www.homestead.com/prosites-prs/tookiewilliamsvictims.html

For such he should have died 20 years ago.......Doing it this week was a finality, which cheated justice for far too long.

The Game said...

I am more pissed that people like jessie jackson tried to make this about race...it was about being an a-hole

Poison Pero said...

"it was about being an a-hole" - Triple H.
----------------
Now he'll get to spend eternity in a hole......A hope six feet under.

Good riddence.

Joe said...

Mary, I can respect your thoughtful struggle with the issue of the issue of death penalty and reconciling it with a pro-life stance. I’m in the same boat in that while I believe that the death penalty is inconsistent with my pro-life stance, I’m pretty certain that if my wife or children or sisters or brother or anyone else I love were murdered I would want the killer to die. That’s a natural instinctual reaction. Revenge. Now to your claim that the “left” is “canonizing” Tookie Williams, I don’t really see that. I have not read his books which attempt to get young poor blacks in neighborhoods beset with gangs to avoid the gang life, but I am told about his efforts to keep kids from following in his footsteps. I don’t know all of the details of this case, but the danger with ignoring that a murderer can change is that it may send an unintended message to others in prison: that redemption will be ignored. If our intention is simply to eradicate anyone who may have committed murder then this is fine. If instead our intention is that murderers may be redeemed and even if they never see the light of day as a free man or woman they are not executed then we may need to rethink this.

To the poster who claims that the teachings of Jesus support the death penalty, remember that Jesus was himself the recipient of the death penalty. His words on an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth:

‘You have heard that It was said, "An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth." But now I tell you: do not take revenge on someone who wrongs you. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, let him slap your left cheek too. ‘(Matthew 5:38-39) ‘You have heard it said, "Love your friends, hate your enemies." But now I tell you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may become the sons of your Father In heaven. For he makes his sun to shine on those who do good and to those who do evil. Why should God reward you if you love only the people who love you? Even the tax collectors do that! And if you speak only to your friends, have you done anything out of the ordinary? Even the pagans do that! You must be perfect—just as your Father in heaven is perfect’ (Matthew 5:43-48).

And the Apostle Paul said:

‘Never take revenge, my friends, but instead LET GOD'S ANGER DO IT. For the scripture says: "I will take revenge, I will pay back, says the Lord." (Romans 12:19) If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head’ (Romans 12:20)

The feelings of revenge that you and I would feel if someone we loved were murdered is natural. God through the Bible calls us not to be natural men (and women) but to be transformed into new creations turning away from our sinful past and achieving redemption ourselves. I hope that neither you nor I are ever in the situation that the families of the vitims of Tookie Williams or other murderers are. I hope also that we are never in the situation that Tookie was in for there but for the grace of God go I.

My God bless you,

Joe