In The Faith - A Chronicle of the Christian Faith

The execution date for Crips gang co-founder, Stanley “Tookie” Williams, is December 13, 2005. Although convicted in 1979 for killing four people, Williams has since authored a number of anti-gang books and has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize five times. Williams’ fate is now hotly debated from the air waves to the classrooms.

What should Schwarzenegger do?

It seems impossible given time and circumstances. From his new quarters, cell No. 1 in the San Quentin death house, he is right by the old gas chamber, where he is scheduled to die by injection on Dec. 13. Pithies cannot compete with that.

Williams is probably the most prominent death row prisoner in the country—co-founder of the Crips gang, convicted of killing four people in 1979 and then nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize five times in the past five years for his anti-gang work—so his imminent execution also keeps him busy managing a flood of calls, letters and visits.

...

On one side are those against state killings in principle, those who believe that Williams has redeemed himself with his 10 books urging youths to stay away from gangs, and those who argue that Williams, who has always maintained his innocence, should be allowed to reexamine ballistics and other evidence that might be a basis for a new trial.

On the other side are those who say Williams should die because retributive justice—an eye for an eye—demands it, not to mention those who don’t believe that he has actually reformed. They note that Williams has never owned up to the murders and that while he has achieved fame, his victims have all but been forgotten.

[ Full Story @ WashingtonPost.com ]

Source: WashingtonPost.com © 2005 Washington Post Company

Related websites (not necessarily endorsed by In The Faith):
Know Gangs – Stanley ‘Tookie’ Williams
Save Tookie

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Filed under: Government, Law, History