Hasta La Vista, Baby: Schwartzanegger denies clemency to Crips co-founder Stanley 'Tookie' Williams
James Falcon
December 14, 2005
Dare I say it?
Governor Arnold Schwartzanegger did something remotely right? Yes, I am as bowled over as you are. Speechless, perhaps.
Allow me to set the scene and take you back in time. The waning years of disco set the background in 1979 as Ernest Tookie Williams participated in two hold ups that took the lives of Albert Owens, a 26 year-old 7-Eleven clerk, as well a Taiwanese family (two elderly parents and their middle-aged daughter). In 1981, he was sentenced to death on four counts of first-degree murder.
Fast forward to the present time -- almost 25 years when 'all talk' became 'all action'. Shortly after the beginning of a new day, on December 13, 2005, Williams was executed via lethal injection.
Where does 'Ahnuld' enter the picture? Well, prior to his execution, Williams sought a plea of clemency from The Terminator (who, I guess, is now living up to his name?). Schwartzanegger, however, denied Williams' clemency based on the fact that Williams "still sees violence and lawlessness as a legitimate means to address societal problems." In his 1998 book "Life in Prison", Williams had dedicated his novel to black militant leaders.
To put things into a chronological perspective, his sentencing occurred one year and seven months before my birth. I am now old enough to legally enjoy the occasional alcoholic beverage, a visit to the casino, and "serving my country". In the time it took me to grow into the pundit I am, a murderer has survived death row. That is almost a quarter of a century.
Shouldn't the death penalty be immediate, with none of this "waiting around" business? What is the use of wasting taxpayers' money keeping them alive when the sole reason they are in jail is that they will be sentenced to death?
Take Charles Manson for example. It has been almost 35 years since he was sentenced to death for the multitude of killings that he participated in or enticed during the 1960s. On March 21, 1971, Manson was sentenced to death. Where is he today? Not in heaven or hell, but sitting in Cocoran State Prison, California.
This all happened back during the Nixon administration, at a time when my mother was rushing home from school to watch "Dark Shadows." I know that this is quite a dated reference, but it just goes to show that this happened back when television was black-and-white! Thirty-five years (this March) have passed and he is still in jail?
Manson is not alone. As of July 1, 2005, there were 3,415 prisoners on death row. According to an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer ("Death Row Costly", Mary E. Forsberg), it cost almost $35,000 to maintain an inmate at New Jersey State Prison. Let's assume that that cost goes for all of the prisons (Prisons in California, I would assume, would cost more); it cost the United States Government a total of $119,525,000 this past year to "keep alive" Death Row prisoners. That's a huge chunk of change, especially when put in the proper perspective. (In the terms of Williams alone, it would have cost $840,000 to maintain him since his arrest.)
Perhaps Schwartzanegger needs more credit than I originally gave him. There are some oddballs out there, including a Swiss legislator, college professors and others who have nominated Williams for the Nobel Prizes in peace and literature. Peace? Williams, along with a friend, founded the Crips, a Los Angeles based gang in 1971; and this man is able to be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize? What's next?
Governor Arnold Schwartzanegger did something remotely right? Yes, I am as bowled over as you are. Speechless, perhaps.
Allow me to set the scene and take you back in time. The waning years of disco set the background in 1979 as Ernest Tookie Williams participated in two hold ups that took the lives of Albert Owens, a 26 year-old 7-Eleven clerk, as well a Taiwanese family (two elderly parents and their middle-aged daughter). In 1981, he was sentenced to death on four counts of first-degree murder.
Fast forward to the present time -- almost 25 years when 'all talk' became 'all action'. Shortly after the beginning of a new day, on December 13, 2005, Williams was executed via lethal injection.
Where does 'Ahnuld' enter the picture? Well, prior to his execution, Williams sought a plea of clemency from The Terminator (who, I guess, is now living up to his name?). Schwartzanegger, however, denied Williams' clemency based on the fact that Williams "still sees violence and lawlessness as a legitimate means to address societal problems." In his 1998 book "Life in Prison", Williams had dedicated his novel to black militant leaders.
To put things into a chronological perspective, his sentencing occurred one year and seven months before my birth. I am now old enough to legally enjoy the occasional alcoholic beverage, a visit to the casino, and "serving my country". In the time it took me to grow into the pundit I am, a murderer has survived death row. That is almost a quarter of a century.
Shouldn't the death penalty be immediate, with none of this "waiting around" business? What is the use of wasting taxpayers' money keeping them alive when the sole reason they are in jail is that they will be sentenced to death?
Take Charles Manson for example. It has been almost 35 years since he was sentenced to death for the multitude of killings that he participated in or enticed during the 1960s. On March 21, 1971, Manson was sentenced to death. Where is he today? Not in heaven or hell, but sitting in Cocoran State Prison, California.
This all happened back during the Nixon administration, at a time when my mother was rushing home from school to watch "Dark Shadows." I know that this is quite a dated reference, but it just goes to show that this happened back when television was black-and-white! Thirty-five years (this March) have passed and he is still in jail?
Manson is not alone. As of July 1, 2005, there were 3,415 prisoners on death row. According to an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer ("Death Row Costly", Mary E. Forsberg), it cost almost $35,000 to maintain an inmate at New Jersey State Prison. Let's assume that that cost goes for all of the prisons (Prisons in California, I would assume, would cost more); it cost the United States Government a total of $119,525,000 this past year to "keep alive" Death Row prisoners. That's a huge chunk of change, especially when put in the proper perspective. (In the terms of Williams alone, it would have cost $840,000 to maintain him since his arrest.)
Perhaps Schwartzanegger needs more credit than I originally gave him. There are some oddballs out there, including a Swiss legislator, college professors and others who have nominated Williams for the Nobel Prizes in peace and literature. Peace? Williams, along with a friend, founded the Crips, a Los Angeles based gang in 1971; and this man is able to be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize? What's next?
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