If there was ever a case that proves we don't need the death penalty it is the case of Stanley "Tookie" Williams.
Tookie is the man who in 1971 co-founded the the now famous street gang known as The Crips. What many don't know is that Tookie and his best friend Raymond actually formed the group to protect their neighborhood from the gangs of the day. Eventually however as the Crips grew in size they too became a more traditional gang and caused havoc all throughout South Central LA. The gang is now in 42 states and on at least one other continent: South Africa. Youngsters in Soweto and other South African cities have formed the Crips copycat gangs.
In 1981 Tookie was convicted of murdering 4 people and sentenced to death. In 1987, Tookie began what became a 6 1/2-year stay in solitary confinement. After two years there, Tookie began to look at himself. He focused on the choices he had made in his life and then committed himself to make a drastic change. Only then did Tookie finally begin to care about the many children, mothers, fathers and other family members of this country hurt by the Crips legacy and by its explosive growth.
Mr. Williams now denounces his violent past and his role as a gang leader. He has written several very popular children's books that teach kids that violence is not the answer. Stanley also was instrumental in brokering the peace treaty between the Crips and Bloods and a movie based on his life was made with Jamie Foxx playing the role of Tookie.
Yesterday a judge signed a death warrant for Tookie after 24 years of sitting on Death Row for a crime that he still steadfastly denies committing. How ironic is it that a man who in the past 24 years has worked so hard to help children, help reform gang members, and has been mominated for the NOBEL PEACE PRIZE will now be killed by the state of California.
Don't let this injustice happen. The Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, can grant Mr. Williams clemency so let him hear from you. Arnold's fax number is 916-445-4633 or if you'd rather speak to someone you can call 916-445-2841. At the very least sign the online petition. Either way let your voice be heard and don't let this man who has shown that he is all about peace die while someone like Charles Manson an admitted murderer will live off the state until he dies from old age.
37 comments:
I signed the petition. If I start getting spam as a result, people will die. If I end up on death row, please start a petition for me.
Is there a petition we can sign to reverse Manson's sentence and have him publicly executed? It would make a great holiday special. I'm thinking "The Manson Family Chainsaw Christmas Special" sponsored by Black & Decker.
If the state kills someone who "supposedly" killed my mother it wouldn't make me feel better about the situation. My mother would still be dead. And what message does the death penalty send, that it's ok to kill people "sometime"? How can people who claim to be so religious advocate killing anybody for any reason? The last time I checked the bible doesn't agree with that stand. You protest and want abortion to be outlawed but you want to kill people on the other end? C'mon Eddie that logic just doesn't make sense.
Grant you are a sick dude. I think I should be worried since I agree with you on far too many topics.
I read Stanley's books and saw the movie. I agree with your views on this and I have signed the petition. The point is for us to see the error of our ways and change for the better. He has done this.
i don't know about his past, or about what he did before he turned around, but i do know that he has made so many changes, and has done so much good, even if some folks aren't directly affected by it.
but, yeah, i agree - telling people "killing is wrong, and if you do it, you'll be killed" is really a little bit dumb.
To be perfectly honest, if someone kills one of my family members, I would want him to die. I would definitley ask for the death penalty. Or bequeath it upon the individual myself. However, I signed the petition.
I can understand that GP but what if you found out years after the person was put to death that they didn't commit the crime?
I think if I knew for sure that the person committed the crime I wouldn't want to give them the easy way out by killing them. I'd rather them have to live out their days in a very bad place and have to think about what they've done and more importantly change for the better and help others before they end up in the same predicament. I think that's the only way that everybody ends up feeling somewhat better about the situation.
Oh, please. That is total bullcrap. Jail/prison is not that bad anymore. They have cable, the internet and other things that would be consider luxuries. All they have to worry about nowadays is getting raped or whatnot. And a man doing a life sentence probably wouldn't mind that. If they excercised the death penalty more, I believe the killing rate would go down some.
well, maybe excercising the death penalty more would not necessarily decrease the killing rates, but I do sternly believe in it.
Again GP I repect your opinion although it doesn't make much sense to me. Killing more people to drop the killing rate? Does that sound reasonable?
Violence begets violence my dear GP.
Oh and you obviously have never been to jail/prison because losing your freedom is not a feeling you ever want to have and that's whether you have cable or the internet or not.
ddot: enlightening post. I did not know much about Tookie. I am against the death penalty altogether, and yes, Eddie, if someone killed a family member, I would feel hate in my heart. But I hope I would not want the state to kill them.
I have actually known someone who's mother was raped and killed - a co-worker (not now, but a few years ago). The co-worker was such a sweetie, but turned into another person when talking about the events (which were re-lived during the sentencing phase of the trial).
know all about him, hell jamie foxx played him in the movie! lmao!
Awww poor Eddie first your Supreme Court nominee steps down just days after The King predicted it and now The King is being a complete jerk towards you and jumping to conclusions.
Well Eddie my man as all of My Loyal Subjects will tell you I am basically a jerk to everybody so you should actually feel honored.
Not all murderers are sociopaths Eddie. Get off your little soapbox and come down here with the rest of us...well the rest of them...of course I am better than everybody else!!!
As many legalized murders as George Bush has committed I guess under your definition he would be the ultimate sociopath...right?
Don't be so uptight Eddie!! I enjoy you visiting my blog. I like to see how others think. I don't think you are always wrong and it is possible I could learn something from you...it's a stretch but it's possible.
that's amazing -- i think i'm going to sign it.
Let me see. You take away a person's life and in return you lose your freedom. Ofcourse, you still get the luxury of eating, sleeping, bathing, watching television, hanging out in the library and kicking it with the fellas.
I know homeless people that got it worse that some murderer in jail. I find it soooo hard to believe if (God forbid) someone murdered your mother, you would not wish death upon that person. Yeah right.
10 27 05
Georgia Peach:
You are correct.
DDOT: In terms of a pro lifer advocating the death penalty, let's see: for one, the pro life position urges for rights of the unborn. The unborn have no choice in the matter and should be able to live life. Secondly, the murderers get to live and MAKE CHOICES! That is the issue here. Tookie has done some good in his life; but he also has done some bad. Since he admitted to being a murderous mastermind and there was conclusive evidence to verify those facts, I would say this is a slam dunk case for the death penalty. Historically there have been discrepancies in how it has been applied and that still may be true. For that reason, I don't think anyone should get the death penalty UNLESSSSSS there is clear and compelling EVIDENCE that they have murdered and they admit to it. Also, murdering a person in a gang war versus being a Ted Bundy or a Jeffrey Dahmer has different implications. And if Tookie were any old brainwashed gangsta, I would say well he was brainwashed. But this dude was THE BRAINWASHER! I hope God has mercy on his soul, and doubt if I will sign his petition!
Tell him Mahndisa!
thanks for bringing this to our attention...I will pass along
I was reading some opinions on the death penalty, so I thought I'd speak on it:
I really am not an advocate. If someone killed one of my family members, I still wouldn't be an advocate. You see, if I woke up angry one morning, I would want to be able to write a letter to the murderer with pictures included....if it were possible, I'd want that person to see my face everyday. I would want him/her to have nightmares about me....just being real.
Mahndisa & GP who are you or I to decide who should die? You both have mentioned God in your comments which is odd because as I've stated before God doesn't approve of any human under any circumstances killing another human being. We have NO RIGHT! He says "Vengeance is mine, I shall repay." When humans start trying to do God's business they are asking for trouble and if another person being killed will help you sleep at night then you have some problems that need to be addressed!
For some reason this post reminded me of this cartoon.
10 28 05
DDOT:
You are woefully incorrect and have mischaracterized my statements. I said that I hoped God had mercy on Tookie's soul and that is it. I gave no religious reasons as to why there is no conflict between the pro life and pro death penalty stances. I only gave you secular utilitarian reasons. And I noticed you did not critisize them; the only thing you did was to quote parts of the Bible when neither me NOR GP were using it to justify our stances.
Hahaha...
Your loyal subjects are whipping your behind DDot...I think Mahndisa adequately expressed how I feel. But I think I will blog on this as well.
Dell no one whoops my butt in anything. Get it right.
Mahndisa the mere fact that you said you hope God has mercy on his soul shows that you claim to believe in God. You unlike me totally disregared the fact that I said NO ONE other than God can decide who lives and who dies. NO ONE. That is my personal belief and I think that it hold water over "well I'm mad at someone so I think they should die" attitude. But if another human being dying makes you sleep better hey that's on you!!
10 31 05
Ignorance my dear DDOT:
Ignorance on your part. Hmm, shd I even bother justifying my position, Nope no need! Dell, as much as I have disagreed with you on other issues, we certainly CONCUR on this one! :)
Wow Mahndisa. Is it that serious? Look I stated what I believe and since you can't dispute that no human has the right to decide who should live and who should die you want to call me ignorant! You're hilarious to me.
10 31 05
Hmmph! DDOT! You are suffering from myopia. This is an error of perspective called relativism. So, if a human can not decide who lives or dies, who decides on the laws? Why is murder a crime? Why do we have to stop at a red light? My truth is different than yours, even if your truth is not rooted in reality...Sound familiar? If we don't come up with laws and morals that all in a society will abide by, others will use this specious reasoning to do whatever they wish, whenever they wish to do it! This leads to anarchy! Just because you may not agree with a law, doesn't mean it is without merit or relvance. That is how I think you miss the point. AS I previously stated, religious reasons don't have to be used to justify the death penalty; an interest in the welfare of a society is compelling reason enought! Why can't you see that, and instead focus on what God says or what you might do? Laws aren't about what is appealing to you or not, they are based on the interests of the society that they protect!
10 31 05
Ooops, so yes DDOT:
I can and I have disputed your statement! ha ha ha!
Once again you have made me chuckle. I never said that I don't respect the law. Surely you didn't just compare stopping at a red light to killing another human being?! I'm sure that I read that wrong. I had to...right? Killing a person because they killed someone helps the welfare of the society?! It's just backwards thinking if you ask me. Anybody who considers themself reasonable has to see the holes in this type of thinking. But I understand how some people will stick to their views because of pride instead of realizing that how they've been thinking is wrong. Look at it this way Mahndisa. If the death penalty actually worked the way supporters of it says it works we would never have any executions or at the very least one every blue moon. It's not a deterent and never has been. But if you are the type that is willing to fight for the right to kill people...knock yourself out.
10 31 05
DDOT: Hmmph, I guess you never took a critical thinking class eh? I pointed out to the fallaciousness of YOUR reasoning because you suffer from a type of myopia called relativism. If you can't figure out what that is then, I dunno.. those were examples shown to illustrate the how ludacris your lack of logic really is! Look up moral relativsm and see what I mean. Furthermore, your question initally never addressed the effectiveness of the death penalty; you beseeched your readers to philosophize on the concept via the Tookie case. So now you are getting into another territory here; instead of theorizing on whether the death penalty's existence has merit; you are now talking about whether its existence is effective. Two different arguments Dear DDOT!
You have issues Mahndisa but I can dig it. Why do you insist on telling me to look something up like I don't know what you are talking about. It's people like you that make my big toe hurt. Look you don't see anything wrong with the death penalty and I do...for a myriad of reasons. let's just leave it at that. You've tried and failed to make your point. But at least you tried
Unfortunately as you've tried to make your point you have on more than one occasion talked down to THE KING. It's ironic that although you were the one who made my big toe hurt you also made the pain go away when as you felt the need to explain certian terms to me you spelled the word "ludicrous"..."ludacris" like the rapper. Work on your grammar maam and get back at me. ROFL!
10 31 05
DDOT:
No need to insult my grammer. In fact, the reason why I explained the term to you is because you did not address the actual argument. That is all. I don't like to make ad hominem attacks and clearly am into dissecting arguments. If you want a debate, I can go tit for tat, but my statements revolved around the fact that you critisize my opinions with no facts to back up those criticisms and that is really it. Also, if you want to get a plug on my blog, send me an email. I do wonder why you like to post on conservative blogs, when your politics are different. If your purpose is insight, then I can see that but I am beginning to wonder if you just like to bother neo cons and cons because you get amused or something!
Insulting your grammar was a low blow. I take it back. See even The King can humble himself. I totally understand everything you've presented but to me any argument not involving God when it comes to life and death is null and void. I t just shouldn't take place in my opinion. But I respect your opinion and I hope to see you around here more.
10 31 05
Yes, DDOT:
Can you send me a note with your true intentions? If you want to participate in informed debate or whatever, just email me and I will add you to the roll. I just need to figure out if you wanna be part of these conservative discussions or if you wanna troll, I am unclear so let me know:)
10 31 05
OK DDOT:
Now I understand where you are coming from. I will add you to the blog roll update. I shd probably characterize you as a liberal, but will not say that, or else you would get hate spam lol!
LOL...so you do have a sense of humor. Great. Oh and by the way I'm pretty sure that you have a crush on me! Now go give a comment on one of my newer stories...please! :)
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