Posted on 11/24/2005 6:29:21 PM PST by SmithL
Sacramento -- A bevy of Nobel laureates and celebrities have written a letter urging Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to commute the death sentence of Stanley Tookie Williams, himself a Nobel Peace Prize nominee.
Williams, 51, the co-founder of the Crips gang convicted of four 1979 murders, is scheduled to be executed at San Quentin State Prison on Dec. 13.
The letter praises Williams' work as an anti-gang crusader, including writing children's books.
"Each year at the holiday season voices the world over cry out for peace," states the letter to the governor. "This year, one of them, a voice of great power, will be lost unless you act."
Among the signatories of the letter are Nobel Laureates Archbishop Desmond Tutu; Irene Kahn, secretary general of Amnesty International; and Mairead Corrigan Maguire, who founded the Community of the Peace People in 1976.
Among the celebrities who signed the letter are Jason Alexander, Jackson Browne, Russell Crowe, Carl Reiner and Susan Sarandon.
Kerry Kennedy Cuomo, with the Human Rights Center of the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial, also signed the letter. She is a cousin of Schwarzenegger's wife, Maria Shriver.
On Monday, civil rights activists Jesse Jackson and Bianca Jagger visited Williams at San Quentin. His case has become a cause for many activists.
"Through his work, gang truces have been mediated, and long-standing wounds have been healed," the letter states. "Lives have been saved."
Williams has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize each year since 2000, initially by a member of the Swiss parliament and more recently by a Bay Area philosophy professor.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
The effort in the 1993-1994 timeframe was a concerted national effort to obtain her release, orchestrated by the usual suspects (the aforementioned Farrell, Sarandon, et al). I remember seeing it on television, and was highly irate at the very thought. I was irate for several reasons, first and foremost was because that as I had some passing familiarity with the case, I was aware that Van Houten was the only member of the Manson "family" who was not present at the Polansky house when Tate, Sebring, and Folger were killed. The others were, and absolutely no effort has been made on the behalf of Adkins, who has demonstrated remorse and rehabilitation, yet the spent effort, a lot of it, on Van Houten, who at the time of the trial, was offered a deal by Bugliosi to escape the death penalty if she would testify, which she jerked him around on.
You're right in that Hollywood has a double standard, and it showed there and I called them on it...
the infowarrior
As far as Adkins goes, she supposedly converted to evangelical Christianity in prison and like Williams wrote a book. It's title is "Child of Darkness, Child of Light", and should still be available...the infowarrior
Yep. Despite his testosterone movie career, Arnold's a liberal at heart. He'll cave on this one, or else Hollyweird will withhold that lifetime achievement Oscar from him.
Translation: "I concede that your point is better than mine."
No biggie. A lot of FReepers had done this only to be set straight later on. I remember when I got flamed big time after I made a liberal post about the infamous Elian Gonzalez photo (I was relatively new). But it's a good thing. You learn from it and hone your skills better, that's all.
No, but a position that my church holds: Believers shouldn't argue over doctine.
For example: Kidnapping was dropped as a capital crime, because it was simply stupid. It absolutely guaranteed that no kidnap victim would ever be returned alive. If murder is a capital crime, and kidnapping is, then the kidnapper has an incentive, no matter how small to spare the life of the victim.
Likewise for rape. If the rapist has nothing more to lose by killing his victim, what possible reason would he have for sparing the victim and risking her testimony against him? Quite the opposite, you'd be giving rapists every reason to escalate the crime to murder.
I am getting the hang of this place.
All those holes shot in me last night have already healed. lol
Good!
I see your point; it's been expressed to me before. The whole justice system has so many flaws that it really needs a total overhaul, which likely won't happen without some kind of major disruption of society.
First of all, public caning should be instituted, that would do a world of good and save a tremendous amount of money. Public pain and public shame will do what a few years in the slammer will not do. And wannabes seeing the punishment will definitely think about their future. And if the death penalty were executed quickly after sentencing, and publicly, that would also act as a serious deterrent.
I'll compromise - the above changes, and execution for all murder, and manslaughter, perhaps leaving aside purely accidental and not due to carelessness or intoxication. I'd be satisfied with that.
I used to be a liberal about such things. More than 20 years ago I read a long article about a man who had also preivously been a liberal, who taught creative writing in CA prisons, to help rehabilitate the men. He figured by being a friend to them, giving them a chance to express themselves, and so on, they would change. After 15 years, meeting and getting to know countless criminals, he found one - ONE - who accepted responsiblity for his crime. It was a native American, who killed 2 men in a bar fight while drunk. He used to cry about it, and prayed for forgiveness. Every single other man either claimed innocence, or that it was someone else's fault. They were exceptionally self centered, hard a**es who couldn't wait to get out (if possible) and "get back" at everyone.
So, the teacher changed from a liberal to a death penalty advocate. Really opened my eyes, too.
LJ, I've never disagreed with anyone so strongly as I'm disagreeing now. The answer to that one is: Not as long as I'm armed and breathing. There are countries that still practice those forms of barbarism if that's what you want, but don't even try to bring that garbage to my country.
First of all, public caning should be instituted, that would do a world of good and save a tremendous amount of money.
I'm becoming increasingly against capital punishment, but even in my hardest of days, I couldn't have supported the ultimate penalty for manslaughter. The idea itself is repugnant.
I have said that long before I ever heard of Michael Savage ... Savage isn't even broadcast in my home town.
Well, we'll just have to agree to disagree. I respect you, Melas, even though we've been on opposite sides many a time. I wish you and yours well, and I mean that from my heart!
I'm not defending the criminal or the victim. I'm asking what use there is in spite. I'm prepared fully to argue that the state has the right to judge and lay sentence. I'm equally prepared to argue that if a person really does change, there should be an accounting for that. That is neither liberalism nor conservatism but love and respect for the mission of law rather than for the letter of it.
Some are hardened and blinded by the letter to the spirit. And some are hardened and blinded by the apparent merciless manner of the other side. Both sides are blinded to the central goal by their hatred for one another's stances. And in that hateful blindness, the mission of the law is lost completely. In an age where it's difficult to make an example of someone, when that someone makes of himself an example not to follow - you then want to shut him up... I say if the example is being made, DON'T Kill the messenger.
If he's making your point for you, stick him on a soap box and let him make it!! Commute him and let him remain the example. It isn't rocket science. And you're an idiot if you can't see that.
BURN TOOKIE BURN!
FR isn't for the thin-skinned or overly sensitive types, but for many of us, there is no other place to be, even on those occasions when we find ourselves with the minority view.
You as well my friend. You as well. At the end of the day, I know you're on the side of the good guys. All that's left is to hammer out the details.
I agree with you...if his reformation is sincere, and since he still denies he killed those people, I have trouble beliving it. He admits to other crimes, but not to the ones he got convicted of.
Anyhow, I'm torn on this one. On one hand, I applaude what he's done, and if he could be a voice for change among those attracted to gangs, wonderful. But on the other hand, I'm not 100% sure how sincere his reformation is, and it worries me it would take even more credibility out of the already uncredible death penalty threats.
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