|
|
|
Jewish World Review Nov. 7, 2005 / 5 Mar-Cheshvan, 5766 No clemency for Tookie By Debra J. Saunders
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
There must be a guidebook in the country's death rows about how
to dodge the lethal-injection needle. In Texas, you find G-d and plead
mercy; in the San Francisco Bay Area and other havens for people who think
they are enlightened liberals, you find a publisher.
If you write books or poetry, all manner of journalists, authors
and do-gooders will turn you into a saint who is doing some good for
society. So, having been sent to death row for the brutal slaying of four
innocent people during two 1979 robberies, San Quentin Prison's Stanley
"Tookie" Williams has no shortage of champions who believe that Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger should grant him clemency and spare him his scheduled Dec. 13
execution. Why, the thug-huggers point out, Tookie has even been nominated
for a Nobel Peace Prize. Or, as an Agence France Presse headline announced,
"U.S. judge sets December date to execute Nobel Prize nominee."
Some background on this Nobel Prize wannabe: In 1979, Williams
shot in the back, twice, Albert Owens, a 26-year-old, white 7-Eleven clerk,
during a robbery. Shortly after, he robbed a motel and slaughtered three
members of an immigrant family, the Yangs.
Williams' lawyers presented an alibi defense that crumbled.
Physical evidence supported the prosecution. A jury found Williams guilty,
and a court sentenced him to death. His crimes tend to be glossed over — as
happened in "Redemption," a Fox TV movie that bought into the reformed
Tookie line. The biopic told the story of Williams' jailhouse conversion,
which led him to co-author a line of children's books, "Tookie Speaks Out
Against Gang Violence."
As proof, supporters point to what Williams calls "The Apology,"
posted on a Tookie website. The problem is, the apology is not for killing
four innocent people — one white and three Asian — but for being a
co-founder of the violent Crips gang, which has ruined "the lives of so many
young people, especially young black men who have hurt other young black
men."
There are some problems with the Tookie hagiography. After
Williams ostensibly quit the Crips, he was stabbed by another inmate in what
prison officials believed was a fight over who would lead the Crips.
And this is interesting: Williams' lawyers have argued that he
had suffered organic brain damage, either when he killed Owens and the Yangs
or during his trial, which made him unable to defend himself. It's hard to
understand how a brain-damaged man could co-write all those books.
The whole "redemption" line is a joke. As Williams' former
prosecutor, Robert Martin, once told me, redemption requires an admission of
guilt, facing up to what you did and expressing remorse. Williams has done
none of the above, yet newspaper editorial pages (including The San
Francisco Chronicle's) and various do-gooders (including some Ninth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals judges) have been pushing for the governor to grant
Tookie clemency.
That would turn the whole concept of clemency on its ear. Let me
stipulate: While I support the death penalty, I can respect those who oppose
it. But I can't respect those who lionize the most violent thugs as if they
are prize sages. My advice to the anti-execution crowd — and I have no
doubt it will be ignored — is to find some poor schlub who killed in a
panic and doesn't belong on death row, and seek clemency for that person.
Don't put a cold-blooded killer on a pedestal. Don't denounce a
government killing as barbaric while you laud a cold-blooded thug. And don't
ask for clemency for a killer who won't fess up to his crimes.
Williams' co-author, Barbara Becnel, told the Los Angeles Times:
"What Stan presents is hope that they, too, can change. He is worth far more
to society alive than dead."
Wrong. He is worth more to society dead. The message from the
Tookie-philes is that you can kill innocent people and be a star. An
execution says you can kill innocent people and pay the price.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
Comment JWR contributor Debra J. Saunders's column by clicking here. © 2005, Creators Syndicate |
Arnold Ahlert | |||||||||||
