Executing "Tookie" Williams wrong thing to do
December 17, 2005 ~ 4:37 p.m.
I support the death penalty. In an age when technological advances in forensics and other crime investigation work is solid and advancing by the year, it would appear more theoretically justifiable.
From a moral persepective, the only way to mete out justice to unrepetent killers is to have them executed. This sends a strong social message: We won't tolerate the taking of innocent life and we, as a society, will protect our own.
Having said this, I believe the recent execution of Stanley "Tookie" Williams to be wrong.
The key to applying capital punishment is to establish whether the murderer is truly sorry for his crime and if he's repeatedly demonstrated remorse. I cannot, in good conscience, support someone's execution under these circumstances. True repetence is the key.
Williams, although he murdered four people during robberies in 1979, turned into an anti-gang activist in prison. The fact that he turned against his former lifestyle and urged the rejection of it by young people showed that he had a guilty conscience. Although, at first, he continued to reject his guilt and refused to apologize, he committed a drastic about-face in 1993. This is why, I believe, a sufficient amount of time in prison is required in order to establish a killer's remorse.
If Williams had continued to brag about his lifestyle in prison and showed no remorse for the life he led, then his execution would have been justified. However, at a time when we are concerned about tackling gangs and their crimes, this sends the wrong message. If we have our minds made up about fighting gang activity, how much sense did it make to kill a high-profile example of an anti-gang activist?
In a truly excellent Blogcritics piece by attorney Julizzette Colon-Bilbraut, she makes her stand for the death penalty largely by using Williams as an example. This, I believe, is disingenuous.
I know that Williams continued to deny involvement in the murders of which he was convicted, but by renouncing the Crips specifically, and gangs generally, he established his remorse. Williams deserved life in prison. There was no letting him back into society. But to acknowledge Williams' anti-gang acitivites while still executing him seems short-sighted.
Under any other circumstance, I would have approved of the death penalty for Williams. But, considering his 180-degree turn in his attitude toward his former lifestyle, he established his guilty conscience. There was no evidence of him receiving support from the Crips while in prison; he received donations from his anti-gang children's books. Even President Bush sent him a "Call to Service Award" letter of praise for his anti-gang efforts.
The death penalty is a great tool to have in our law enforcement arsenal, but we must use it carefully, only for cases of truly deranged killers who show no sorrow after an established long period of time.
My heart goes out to the families of the four victims. It really does. I have not turned against the death penalty. But if ever there was a case for clemency from capital punishment, Tookie Williams was the example.
� M.E.M.
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Copyright � 2001-2007 by M.E. Manning. All material is written by me, unless explicitly stated otherwise by use of footnotes or bylines. Do not copy or redistribute without my permission.
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