The LA TIMES has an entire opinion section on the upcoming execution of Stanley "Tookie" Williams.
In full disclosure they asked me to write the lead piece. The op-eds can bve accessed either through my website at http://joshmarquis.blogspot.com
or at the LA TIMES website:
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/sunday/editorials/la-op-tookieexecute4dec04,0,3051832.story?coll=la-home-sunday-opinion

What an excellent series of editorials. I've come to expect the ones that make me feel like vomiting, but I was pleasantly surprised to find several (like Mr. Marquis') speaking from the other side of the coin.

FYI, this one might be my favorite (no offense, Josh!), esp. since I learned this for myself during some reviews of ex-Ill. Gov. Ryan's acts in commuting all the death sentences in that state:

Who doesn't have a Nobel Prize nomination?

By Eugene Volokh, Eugene Volokh is a professor of law at UCLA Law School.


MANY advocates of clemency for Stanley Tookie Williams note that he has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and the Nobel Prize in literature for his anti-gang work, which includes writing children's books. How could a convicted murderer and co-founder of the Crips be nominated for such prizes?

According to Nobel Prize nominating rules, any "professor of social sciences, history, philosophy, law and theology" and any judge or national legislator in any country, among others, can nominate anyone for a Nobel Peace Prize. Past nominees include Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin, Benito Mussolini and Fidel Castro. Any "professor of literature [or] of linguistics," among others, can nominate anyone for a Nobel Prize in literature.

Naturally, many nominees have real merit. But being nominated by one or a few of the hundreds of thousands of eligible nominators is little evidence of such merit. This is especially so when the nominee is a source of controversy, and when it may seem that nominating him may prevent his execution.

It would surely be helpful to readers if news stories mentioning Williams' nominations � or, for that matter, any Nobel peace or literature prize nominations � stressed how unselective the nomination process is.

We're used to prize nominations signifying relatively broad acclaim, as for an Oscar. When a nomination means nothing other than a recommendation from a professor (or even a few professors and a legislator), that should to be made clear.

Besides, a convicted murderer's nominations for Nobel prizes shed little light on the complex question of whether he is sincerely contrite, whether he has done good deeds and whether his life should be spared.

Yasser Arafat was a Nobel laureate; 'nuff said? Hell, so long as the honors are posthumous, i don't care if they make him Queen of the May.

No offense at all. Volkovh rocks. I loved his piece. To the TIMES credit they actuakky sought me out. Their official position is against not just Williams' execution but ALL death sentences.

one note of interest about this case that I personally found pretty nice was the fact that the LA District Attorney's Office placed a copy of their response to the cert petition on their web page. rather than rely upon the press to get their story out, they did it themselves. in this case, the technique led to a link to the LA DA (la da? is that french?) website in an article about the case on the website for the national review. excellent work.

Gangsters Missed Tookie's Lesson

Steve Lopez
LA Times

December 7, 2005

If Stanley Tookie Williams has had such a big impact with his antiviolence message from death row, as his supporters would have us believe, then why are the streets so violent and the jails so jampacked with gangbangers?

Seemed like a fair question, so I went to jail Tuesday to talk to gang members about the scheduled Dec. 13 execution of the co-founder of the Crips.

"Some of the youngsters ask, 'Who is he?' " said a 38-year-old Crip with the street name Raymond Stacs.

Stacs noted that many young, active gang members weren't alive when Williams helped start the Crips in 1969. Many weren't born 10 years later, for that matter, when Williams drew a death sentence for murdering four people.

So veterans like Stacs have been educating the youngsters at the Los Angeles County Men's Central Jail, which is home to thousands of gang members who apparently missed the message in Tookie's nine antiviolence children's books.

P. Dog, a 25-year-old Blood from Inglewood Family, is looking at hard time on a kidnapping charge. He said he was familiar with Williams before the recent publicity, and he had a compliment for the onetime leader of the archrival Crips.

"He's done everything he can to transform himself, and he's got more credentials than the people executing him," P. Dog said.

By credentials, I assumed he was referring to Tookie's antiviolence work and the Nobel Prize nominations. So I asked P. Dog if he'd read the books.

He hadn't.

Well, I said, if Tookie's transformation was an inspiration of Nobel proportions, why didn't P. Dog stop banging?

"I thought I knew everything," he said.

Jo Jo, a 39-year-old member of the 21st Street Crips, had a similar answer.

"I was already in too deep," said Jo Jo, who also hasn't read any of Williams' books. He's been too busy terrorizing the streets, he said.

Doing what? I asked.

"Everything you could think of," said Jo Jo, who's facing a third-strike trial on a carjacking charge that could put him away for life. "It was all about money. If it don't make dollars, it don't make sense."

Jo Jo preaches a different sermon these days, crediting Williams as a role model for the redemption Jo Jo now seeks.

"He's someone who affected my life. He's my big homie," said Jo Jo, who never met Williams.

Of course, it could be that a looming third-strike trial has something to do with Jo Jo's Tookie-like transformation, but he talked a good game about the evolution of the Crips.

"It was different when it started, not all about killing. But I saw the negative in it as I got older�. This is nothing but genocide. It's black men killing black men."

There's no need for the state to kill one more, said Stacs. He doesn't buy the argument that an execution sends the right message to all the bangers out there on the streets. On the contrary, it would send the message that there's no point in trying to turn your life around.

"I'm always a Crip," said Jo Jo. "But that doesn't mean you can't change and become a positive member of society. If Tookie lives, it'll do more good than bad."

And if Gov. Schwarzenegger decides to go ahead with the execution, what can we expect on the streets?

"No comment," said Jo Jo.

Despite their speeches on the virtue of coming clean about gang life, the men gave Williams points for his steadfast insistence that he's innocent. There's honor, apparently, in going to the grave without compromise, even though a show of remorse might save Williams' skin.

"I will never apologize for crimes I did not commit," Williams said in his memoir "Blue Rage, Black Redemption." "Being a condemned prisoner, I am viewed among the least able to qualify as a promoter of redemption and of peace. But the most wretched among society can be redeemed."

The men I talked to seem to believe that's true. I asked if they hold Williams responsible for starting something that landed them in jail, and to a man, they refused to point a finger.

"I take responsibility for everything," said Jo Jo.

"I'm a sinner," said P. Dog.

"If I beat this, I'm not doin' it anymore," said Stacs, who, like Jo Jo, has spent half his life in prison and may never see daylight again.

When I was done with them, another inmate called me over.

Look around the room, said the Crip, who's in his late 30s and was handcuffed to an interview table. Look at all the gangbangers.

"And now look at the cops," he said. "They come from the same neighborhood and they made a different choice."

He said he'd been shot in the head and chest, he's spent half his life locked up, and he's read all Tookie Williams' books, if maybe a little too late.

"They glamorize the gangs in movies," he said. "They glamorize gangs in rap. They glamorize criminals. You think doing life in prison is glamorous?"

Anyone think the Gov is delaying his denial of clemency to minimize the opportunity for gang bangers to riot?

Schwarzenegger Rejects Williams' Bid for Clemency
By Henry Weinstein and Michael Muskal, Times Staff Writers

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today rejected clemency for Stanley Tookie Williams, convicted murderer and one of the founders of the Crips.

The decision was announced moments after a federal appeals court in San Francisco turned down Williams's request for a stay of execution. Williams is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday.

"Clemency cases are always difficult and this one is no exception," Schwarzenegger said in a prepared statement.

"After studying the evidence, searching the history, listening to the arguments and wrestling with the profound consequences, I could find no justification for granting clemency. The facts do not justify overturning the jury's verdict or the decisions of the courts in this case."

The Governator stated: "Clemency cases are always difficult and this one is no exception," Schwarzenegger said in a prepared statement.


Was this case really "difficult"? Seems pretty obvious that a convicted murderer who killed 4 people, who still won't admit his own guilt, deserves the sentence that he received over 25 years ago.

Why can't Arnold just admit this was easy as far as the facts are concerned? (Arnold's political ramifications are a whole other ball of wax).

Adios Tookie.

In response to SAProsecutor
It should be difficult when deciding whether someone should die.
remember, we are talking about taking someone's life.

quote:

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Timing

Anyone think the Gov is delaying his denial of clemency to minimize the opportunity for gang bangers to riot?

---

Actually, I don't. I think he waited until all appeals had been exhausted.

As for potential rioting ... any violence as a result of this will just FORCE governors -- all governors -- to reject future clemency pleas lest he/she appear to be appeasing violent street thugs. (Not that that concept will stop any violence, since the people who commit those kinds of acts are notorious for their general inability to think beyond the next dawn).

I might have had a harsh tone for Arnold. I read more of his statement and he also said the following:

"Stanley Williams insists he is innocent, and that he will not and should not apologize or otherwise atone for the murders of the four victims in this case," the governor wrote.

"Without an apology and atonement for these senseless and brutal killings, there can be no redemption."

I'm glad Arnold remembers that Tookie isn't sorry for what he did. And in response to my friend from Austin, deciding life & death is difficult, however over 20 years a jury and countless appeals, including now a clemency hearing have reflected on Tookie and his crime. After 20 years, I think we can all agree the matter has been thought out throughly.

The Gov's explanation for denying clemency is excellent. Well written. Great summary of the crimes. Good discussion of the impossibility of rehabilitation without acceptance of responsibility. Worth reading at the LA Times website (see link above).

One could have been more sympathetic to Williams' request for clemency if he had begun practicing what he preached after his conviction BEFORE his conviction. He was another Carla Faye Tucker, only seeking to ameliorate his position after the justice system had held him accountable. Maybe he contributed more than many on death row, but it was too late.

Also seems strange that his legal challenges could create the delay that permits him to make the clemency claim. Twenty years is way too long, particularly for a defendant who, by existing, contributes to the expansion of gangs.

One thing I continually noticed during all of the hooplah around Williams was the scant attention (even mention) given the four victims he mercilessly slaughtered. How does writing childrens' books constitute redemption?

I remember a rather insightful quote from a TDC Captain during the weeks proceeding Karla Faye Tucker�s execution. When asked if it mattered that she had changed while on death row, he replied �We don�t send people to death row to change; we send them to death row to die�. Tookie Williams was not executed as the man he had become, redeemed, rehabilitated or not. He was executed as the man he was when he committed the crimes. The last 20 years of legal proceedings were to make sure his rights were protected, the law was followed and no misconduct occurred. When that was assured, the only proper course of action was to carry out the imposed sentence.

Where are these books that Tookie wrote? Do these books exist in any public or private elementary school libraries? I think any parent who found out Tookie books are in their kids library would not approve.

My guess is these books exist in jail and no where else.

[This message was edited by SAProsecutor on 12-13-05 at .]

SAProsecutor,

My extensive research (ie, entering "Tookie Williams" in the Amazon search bar) has revealed three children's books -- "Gangs & Violence," "Gangs & Weapons," and "Gangs & the Abuse of Power" -- available on Amazon.com, along with a few recommendations from librarians and teachers in the reviews. So apparently they exist in a few places. Although one "gang expert" in the reviews doesn't like the books because they present "too much negative stereotyping" of gangs. Hmm.

Interestingly, also showing up on the search is a book called "Prison Etiquette: The Convict's Compedium of Useful Information". I'm terribly interested to know exactly what advice that book would include!