The death penalty does not serve any purpose except revenge, and even at that, it is flawed.

The state of California has more than 600 inmates on its Death Row. Of those inmates, some have been incarcerated more than 20 or 25 years since their death sentence was handed down. Capital punishment was reinstated in California in 1978; from that point until 1992, no executions were performed. Since 1992, barely a dozen have been performed, and three of those were performed after California extradited the prisoners to a different state where they were also under death sentences.

I do agree that someone who commits first degree murder should be imprisoned for life without parole. But to spend the years of appeals, and millions of dollars in legal costs, makes no sense whatsoever. Williams' death will not bring back his victims.

You're right. 600 inmates on death row. So many more should be put to death. The victims do not come back and these murders don't either. And before this turns into some racial flamewar. Number of blacks put to death in CA including this worthless human, 3. Number of Asians killed by this uselss human being, 4. Tell me all about the racism again.

I have not said anything about racism. My point about the death penalty is that killing people is wrong, whether an individual does it or the state does it.

Does he deserve clemency?

No. Nothing that I have read has convinced me that he did not commit the crime.


Why?

I side with the heartless, cold and callous on the issue of the death penalty. I don't care if a convicted felon writes a childrens book, gives blood or wins the Nobel Prize in Science. I likewise do not really care if some studies show that the death penalty is not a deterrent to future or recidivist murderers. I am further dissuaded on a personal level when the murderer becomes a cause celeb and brings hollywood elites and various activists out of the woodwork.
I am also unswayed by charges of a racist justice system. My bottom line is, that in a state that has the death penalty, if convicted by a jury of fellow citizens, beyond a shadow of doubt......then for the cold blooded taking of a life, the murderer should forfeit their own.

Having said that, I personally would support a moratorium on all death penalty sentences until or unless DNA evidence can be used in all cases to justify a conviction involving first degree murder.

Tookie murdered four people. He ended four lives. He changed many other forever. The fact that he founded the murderous gang of thugs called the Crips is just icing on the cake. His life should be forfeit, as called for by the California legal system and the people of the jury.

I should hope that if you DID believe that he didn't commit the crime, that you would be fighting for something even greater than clemency which only reduces the sentence for the crime that Tookie Williams was convicted of. It doesn't absolve him of his guilt, and the man would still spend the rest of his life in prison.

If good behavior isn't a valid reason for a reduction in sentence, than what is?

I don’t believe in the death penalty. But I don’t believe in rehabilitation either... I don’t think either side of the argument would have a problem if “Tooki” were knee deep in pig manure as “punishment” for his crimes and the fruits of his labor paid his room, board and compensation to victims. No TV, radio or any creature comforts just pig crap and life for the rest of his life.

Yeah, nothing you posted related to that in any way. At the same time, I'd like to know if the prosecutor of the Tookie Williams case was censured twice for making racist comments, not to mention the fact that Williams had an all-white jury and was referred to as a "bengal tiger" in front of them. Anyone care to address these accusations towards the prosecution?



I see your point here and I understand it completely. I guess that I look at things from the perspective that the death penalty is very flawed. It's amazing to me that people don't trust our govenrment to handle our taxes, but they trust the government to take a life. To top it off, how many people have been found innocent that were previously on death row? The use of jail-house informants, destruction of evidence, and the planting of it, clearly shows a process that hardly passes any sign of assurity that the person about to be executed-is actually guilty. I'd rather have someone wrongfully imprisoned than wrongfully executed. The former can live out their life, the latter can't.

Ghengis Khan could not have said it better. The death penalty does not work in deterring crime, if it did, there wouldn't be anybody else on death row. Tookie Williams' crime was against 4 people, granted, he claims he is innocent, but since he's not OJ Simpson, let's just assume he is guilty, besides, a trial, like most trials against poor black males, would have been a pretext to a conviction anyway. So with Tookie Williams guilty of 4 counts of murder and sentenced to death, the question I would pose is not; does he deserve it; but will society benefit? Society most certainly will not benefit, so why not just do what the State of California has been doing for the last twenty five or so years and keep him in prison? We should do away with the death penalty altogether. The United States is supposed to be the most advanced society mankind has ever known, but in terms of the death penalty we stand alone . . . . oh wait, there's Thailand. Classy company.

Tookie Williams has now paid his debt to society.