Posted on 12/08/2005 10:22:34 AM PST by SmithL
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger should not grant clemency to death row inmate Stanley Tookie Williams.
Nor should he deny it.
The governor should shelve the clemency hearing scheduled for today. He should call a press conference instead. He should say that in listening to the debate, he has come to understand that the challenge before him is not to parse the singular circumstances of one man's life. It is to tackle the much larger and more relevant issue that has been pushed to the surface by the Tookie Williams case: the public's conflicted feelings and growing questions about the death penalty itself.
Then Schwarzenegger should announce a moratorium on all executions in California, following in the footsteps of another law-and-order Republican governor, former Gov. George Ryan of Illinois.
This not only is the thoughtful, prudent course of action, given what we know now about flaws in the judicial system, but it has the added advantage of turning a radioactive situation for Schwarzenegger into a defining moment. He can stake his claim as a bold, courageous leader without, in actuality, taking much of a political risk: Most Californians favor a moratorium.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Just kill this piece of filth.
I would agree to a point, maybe suspend death by injection; I would pay to see him hang or a firing squad though.
Unborn babies are routinely executed without so much as a hearing before a judge. I would say that the left is very comfortable with executions. But only if they are completely innocent of any crime.
Correct! Let's talk about the 4 innocent people this POS murdered.
This is what happens when you wait 25 years before carrying out your death penalties. Too few people care what happened way back then, nobody remembers, and old people can do lots of "good" things to make it look like they should be granted clemency.
Carry out the sentence within 10 years, you don't have this problem.
Agreed. The fellow sentenced last week for killing Carla Bruscia should have been taken out back immediately, had a bag placed over his head, and been hung. Dispatch him quickly and save the taxpayer some money.
16,000 murders a year
1,000 executions since the death penalty was "legalized".
But executions are the problem.
I think we should pass a new law that says anyone on death row who writes childrens' books automatically gets a reprieve because what could be more important than keeping alive authors of childrens' books? It's for the chirren doncha know?
Law and order? Ryan was one of the most corrupt politicians in the history of Illinois (and that's saying something!).
Nonsense. Time for a year end clearance, instead.
Only in San Francisco can someone say that "everyone I know has doubts about the death penalty." If she left the confines of Baghdad-by-the-Bay she would find thousands of people who aren't conflicted and want to fry the b-stard.
Another soft on crime liberal.
Oh, I dunno...suspension is starting to sound like a good idea...
You know the right thing to do Arnie.
why do people care so much about thie quadruple murderer? i looked at the list of victims and it looks like he wiped out and entire asian family.
Perfect idea
Note the cheap rhetorical trick by this professional weeper. There are no "conflicted feelings" or "growing questions" from the public regarding the death penalty. Executing murderers has solid public support and has for a long time.
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