Tookie
For those of you who have been hibernating lately, you should know that there is a brouhaha bubbling over in California.You see, convicted murderer Stanley "Tookie" Williams is expected to get the end result of his sentence in two weeks. That is to say, Tookie was sentenced to death upon the finding of his guilt for four murders comitted back in 1979. He is set to receive his lethal injection on December 13th.
You can read about the background here, but to make a long story short, just know that Tookie was the co-founder of the street gang known as "The Crips," and that this is his claim to fame.
Tookie has exhausted all of his appeals and no can only hope that California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will grant him clemency. Why? What drum do pro-clemency advocates beat to suggest that Tookie should be granted clemency? Would you believe that Tookie has been rehabilitated and has written a number of anti-gang books while in prison? Would you further believe that he has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize a number of times (though he's never won)?
For these reasons, certain celebrities have chosen to lend their voices to the downtrodden plight of poor Tookie and are doing the full-court press on his behalf with Gov. Schwarzenegger. They've been all over the news. I can't imagine how you missed it.
Now, I'm a believer in our justice system. I believe that it provides more protection to the guilty than they likely deserve and our interminable appeals process allows for injustices to be corrected, should they arise. I know many will take offense at this, but I'm also a believer in the death penalty. If you've ever been a victim of a violent crime, you will understand that some dogs ought to be put down for the preservation of law-abiding members of society. I do feel that there is something wrong with the death penalty though, and that is we don't do it enough.
It simply isn't a deterrent, because you can sit on death row for 25 or more years playing legal tiddilywinks and getting fat on the taxpayer. Tookie's victims didn't get to live an additional 25 years, I would note, with somebody else footing the bills.
Nevertheless, my real issue with this is the celebrity cabal that has taken up the cause. I am sick of their posturing and preening, their moral superiority, and the very sound of the Reverend Jesse Jackson's voice. Blech!
The fact of the matter is you should never set aside a jury's sentence lightly. For heaven's sake! These people sacrificed time from their own lives to do the citizen's duty. They weighed the facts (which still stand undisputed according to the failure of the appeals), and found the man guilty. They then decided that his crimes warranted the ultimate punishment. I wasn't in that room, but I know that they sweated over the decision to end a man's life. It would be impossible not to fully justify it in your own mind. I certainly don't think that the feelings of a few weak-minded celebrities should weigh heavier than those of the surviving members of the victims' families, nor should they sway the governor from upholding the wishes of the people who sentenced him.
All because the guy wrote a few books saying "don't do what I did, yo!"
Seems to me that his point really hits home if he is executed and made to pay the price for his crimes. Much more powerful to the boys in the 'hood if Jamie Foxx and Snoop Dogg are unable to save your ass. Maybe then they'll think twice. ('Cause I sincerely doubt they are lining up at Barnes & Noble to pick up Tookie's latest tome.)
