Arnold has made up his mind. He will not grant clemency to Stanley Tookie Williams. He will die in 11 hours — at 12:01 am tomorrow — which some people might argue is a hell of a lot longer than he gave his alleged victims who were murdered in 1979. (NYT and LAT). We discussed this story in depth on Dec. 10 in Tookie: News & Blog Roundup + A Poll. (And don’t miss today’s diary by Sallycat, who lives near the prison and knows many of the guards.)
As I wrote in that story, aside from my opposition to the death penalty, on principle, I am also worried for major cities around the country that have large gang populations. And the prisons where gangs rule.
The city of Los Angeles is bracing for riots if Williams is executed: “Fearing a repeat of the 1992 race riots in which 52 people died, police, schools and community groups have been told to prepare for violence if clemency is not granted.”
Robin Toma, executive director of the Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission, said the organization had received “credible” threats of violence if Williams is put to death.
There are also fears that Williams’ execution could cause unrest in the prison system.
To our friends in large cities, especially Los Angeles, stay safe. And use this to discuss your feelings about Arnold’s decision. Are you surprised? I became concerned when it took him all weekend, and he waited until Tookie’s last court appeal was denied — as if Arnold hoped a court decision would let him of the hook. So it goes, in this greatest nation on earth.
Below the fold, the image that BooTribber Arcturus just sent me:
When there is an execution all the prisons are always locked down as standard procedure. San Quentin is the only prison in California where executions are performed. Based on the article and presumptions, I’ll say extra prayers for my friends that are correctional officers – including at San Quentin.
There are some interesting racial biases that were in the article…a presumption that the gangs will be a problem, particularly prison gangs. There is a presumption that there will be “race” riots.
The racist overtones in the article are offensive.
Sally, did you ever see the HBO movie about the Attica riots?
It was done in the 1980s but it holds up. Great director, great casting.
And it humanized the guards as well as the prisoners.
It can be rented. I can’t remember the title, but can find it.. .. Samuel L. Jackson and Anne Heche (as a prison guard’s wife) were in it very early in their careers.)
Against the Wall?
Yup! Hell of a movie! A must-rent!
and a number of other movies.
Sometimes I get so angry about the perceptions of the guards. These are just average guys – most of them men of color – that work in one of the toughest jobs and prisons in the U.S. Men that work to maintain order for those that are not in the isolated reaches of death row. BTW death row is generally a completely separate area inside most prisons…the local prison population never sees or meets any death row inmates.
And as a rule for California prison guards – they are democrats, union members, and church going family men. I’ve met a dozen or so working campaigns locally – big teddy bear guys that tower over my 5’5″. They all work at San Quentin.
That’s great, Sally, and I believe you. Here, one of the “big” industries is the Clallam Bay prisoin … a lot of infamous murderers are kept there.
Jobs are hard to find here, and a lot of people finally give up and go to work for the prison because the pay is decent. Although most have to commute long distances on narrow mountain highways.
I met a man who has a shop class for inmates, and he’s a great guy. Then, when we very first moved to this area, I lived next door to a guard at Clallam Bay who beat his girlfriend all the time…. my daughter would hear something slamming against the bedroom wall. We didn’t know for quite a while that it was her body hitting the wall. Ugh.
What can be done? We live in a Christian Nation after all, as FOX News etc. are so fond of reminding us.
…about Mr. Williams. I think he did the crime. But I oppose the death penalty. If we had no death penalty, we’d not be reduced to trying to save one probably guilty guy by begging clemency within a system where politics trumps all and scores of people are executed each year?
As Rose Bird discovered, Californians can get mighty upset when a barrier is put up between them and their inalienable right to indulge in state-sponsored murder. So the Guv’s decision – and his decision to delay his decision until the last minute – surprises me not at all. We have an election coming up and Arnie needs no extra flak from his right flank, especially since granting clemency would gain him few if any votes from those who are most clamoring for it.
I hope to live to see the day when we Americans join the civilized world and abolish this barbarous practice.
I’ve probably told this story too many times here, but I’ll do it once more.
When I was growing up and in my early adulthood, we had a Republican governor, Daniel J. Evans, who was elected to FOUR terms as governor.
He vocally opposed the death penalty. It never cost him an election.
How can that be? Because he exuded gravitas and brains and ethics.
He was quite a guy. (Then he got frozen out when the Pat Robertson types took over the Republican party.)
He’s still alive, and does a lot of commission work. He was also very good on environmental matters.
I thought I recognized his name. He was one of Washington’s Senators when I lived in the evergreen state.
You and me both. I’ve been against the death penalty on general principle. I too hope we one day abolish the death penalty, though I’m admittedly a pessimist.
Everyone has their reasons: the crook who steals the wallet, the politician who gets theirs under the table, the man who shoots the gun, the executioner who pulls the switch. Only one gets away with it, only one is cheered on. In the end, they all have their reasons.
Headlines on the BBC home page:
Bush praises Sunni vote decision
US President Bush says he is encouraged by the decision of more Sunni Arabs to take part in elections on Thursday.
US ex-gang boss denied clemency
California’s governor denies clemency to Stanley “Tookie” Williams, due to be executed on Tuesday
This is how the world sees America: death and lies.
Is the death penalty primarily a means of retribution for victims’ friends and families as well as punishment for the assailant? If so, then Arnold made the right decision. But if it is to be reserved only for the most dangerous repeat criminals, such as serial killers, mob hit men, and any others who would definitely kill again, then it appears as though Williams will die needlessly. He’s reformed, and even productive as an author. I think he should have been spared.
In theory I support the death penalty for the extremely dangerous – to protect society from possible future violence. But I have to admit that the way it’s enforced here in the U.S. is capricious and racially biased. Our politicians (and citizens) just aren’t adult enough to enforce a death penalty rationally. JMO…
The question is whether he killed people the regime did not wish dead.
I’m against the death penalty. Whether Williams has redeemed himself or not, I’m not really in a position to judge. But that’s not the issue for me. What good would his death serve? None, that I can see.
I don’t think the state should be in the business of execution. Too many mistakes are made, and once made, they can’t be fixed.
Regarding the potential for violence, I am not worried about “racial violence” per se. I am, however, worried about the Crips, because, guess what, many of them commit violence. We have gang shootings in and near my neighborhood all the time. Why shouldn’t I be worried?
I lived in LA during the 92 riots. It wasn’t fun. I’m praying we don’t have a repeat.
If there is violence and looting in the wake of the execution, it will surely be fair to hold Schwarzenegger accountable for it. I wonder, though, whether the citizens of California will do so. Would either Angelides or Westly be so crass as to attempt to make an issue of any unrest in their campaigns next year?
Even though the fate of “Tookie” Williams seems to be sealed, let us all hope these fears of unrest turn out to be unfounded.
You are not the first to state that they hope that there is no “unrest”. But, frankly, when is “unrest” acceptable? or rather, when is it OK to sit back and watch injustice?
I do not fear civil unrest as much as I fear complacency, conformity and apathy. I don’t fear the person who is willing to fight for their rights as much as I fear those who say “let it pass”.
If there is unrest, so be it. Maybe someone will ask the question: why are they so angry?
Like I said, I was here for the 92 “unrest.” It was horrific, destructive, violent and ugly. In the immediate aftermath, a lot of folks struggled with what to call the event. “Unrest,” “uprising,” even “the fires.” I just stuck with “riots.”
I know that despair and anger lead people to desperate acts. I also know that a lot of what happened in 92 was opportunistic violence, not an expression of moral outrage.
The larger question is, what did the riots accomplish? Most of the people who got burned out were poor to middle class. There was a lot of talk of monies being invested in those communities after the destruction, but how much of that really happened?
Maybe an event like that is the only way to get the powers-that-be’s attention, but I wouldn’t wish it on my neighborhood.
It seems like if those in charge of this country were serious about curtailing gang violence, the very least they could do would be to not put someone like Williams to death. I would think that any kid thinking about getting into gang violence would at least think about a message of “Don’t do it” from a man who started one of the most notorious gangs in the country, then spent the latter half of his life regretting the decision and working to undo the damage he helped to cause. In other words a man who Was There and Did That, in spades.
Yes, they would do more, but at least they would do that. But maybe that’s just me.
Omir, I completely agree.
His execution is just another incentive to those who want to keep banging and go down in a hail of bullets.
If that happens, Gropenfuheur can run down and put on his Terminator costume, and save the day for the good folks from all those nasty gangbangers.
Just think of the ratings, er, votes! Ah-nuld saves LA! Hooray!!
And if he says Hasta la vista, baby, then he get a part of the Latino vote, too.
/snark.
the creatures runningthe country now are not interested in reducing violence either here at home or in Iraq or anywhere else in the world.
They’re interested in militarizing the planet as part of their insane plan to establish the global hegemony their delusional minds envision.
Cheney & Co wouldn’t object to instituting martial law here in the US if they thought they could get away with it. But failing that, the more weaponry they can place in the hands of the “authorities”, (i.e. law enforcement), the happier they will be.
This is the Law OR Order crowd doing this stuff, not the Law AND Order people, and such behavior historically is always a precursor to the rise of fascism. I would say they want riots to happen as a pretext for overturning more civil rights and spending more money providing more guns to the authorities.
Incidentally, this is the same rubric they follow in Iraq also.
This is the Law OR Order crowd doing this stuff, not the Law AND Order people, and such behavior historically is always a precursor to the rise of fascism. I would say they want riots to happen as a pretext for overturning more civil rights and spending more money providing more guns to the authorities.
Quite so. I’m angry at the ‘oh, they’re going to have a race riot’ business they so sucessfully sold to the middle class.
What this execution demonstrated (once again) is that the American system of ‘justice’ contains no provision for redemption and, believe me, anyone who might riot in protest is fully aware of that just as they’re aware that a lot more people died during and after Katrina than the official total.
Once again my hope for civilized decency is smashed to smithereens.
Between torture and state sanctioned murder, I truly am ashamed of my country. When I listened to speakers as the Kyoto Conference on BBC, state that the major game plan was “to leave this American government behind, move ahead and let US Business come smashing at the door in the not too distant future”, I realized how very very low our country has sunk in world opinion.
When will Americans give up the childish idea that an “eye for an eye” is justice, rather than label it as the revenge it is in fact?
My heart breaks for the future of my grandchildren and my country.
It seems that the motivating factor for death penalty supporters, and the family members of those to whom terrible things have been done, is revenge. You hear “I want this chapter closed” or “I want justice to be done”. While this is a very human desire, it should not be the role of the government to provide closure or revenge for these families or for their constituents. The role of the government in meting out sentencing should be driven by provision of punishment for the crime.
On another note, this human reaction to the death of a family member brings home the reasons why the families of 30,000 dead Iraqis have been radicalized against the U.S. and why we are exacerbating rather than diminishing the terrorism/insurgency/”family justice”/sectarian anger and violence.
is fuckin barbaric.
We are a barbaric country.
Case closed.
I think you’re right that Schwarzenegger was hoping to be let off the hook by the courts.
I’ll be surprised if there’s any violence. My gut suspects that’s mostly media sensationalism. The logic offered doesn’t even make much sense. He renounced his gang affiliation years ago & active memembers are clearly those who aren’t sympathetic to his message. The racial exclusions of the jury, & imflammatory racial remarks by the prosecutor have been getting scant mention in most recent medai articles, so it’s possible, though unlikely, that this execution will particularly fan feelings of racial injustice.
If any one is interested, I’ve posted some quotes about the process of lethal execution over at SAlly Cat’s Death in My County Tonight.
& yea! that Attica movie was great. I’m hoping thtat HBO (?) will re-air Redemption soon; it’s worth watching.
On NPR Radio’s “Day to Day” program this afternoon, I heard that Tookie Williams had been instrumental in negotiating a truce between gangs in New Jersey.
There have been only a few gang related deaths since the truce. NJ Law enforcement states that for the most part the truce has held. Thats a better record than the US government has between Israel and Palestine.
Arcturus, I disagree with your statement “…it’s possible, though unlikely, that this execution will particularly fan feelings of racial injustice.”
It shows once again, the death penalty is meted out irregardless of persons change, if that person is Black or Hispanic. All minorities have to do is look at the number of War Criminals in this Administration, who are still escaping justice. But they happen to be white.
Historians from Standford Univ to Harvard have been saying for some time now, that our country is more divided than since the Civil War. Will it take riots to break through the smog or fog that seems to envelope Washington DC??
You are right to disagree. I was narrowly focused on the racial issues of the trial & neglected the larger impact of the symbolic weight. Regardless what one thinks of Williams’ motives, that he has & can make a demonstrable difference in peoples’ lives argues, to me, that his is one worth having in the world. The diminshment of hope this decision represents is a terible message to send — esp. post-Katrina.
As this document makes clear, Schwarzenegger is putting Williams to death, not because of his crime, but for his beliefs.
While recounting the terrible crime, the governor ultimately decided to kill Williams for two reasons: because in the forward to his book, “Life in Prison”, Williams dedicated the book to people the governor thought were not worthy of a dedication, in particular, George Jackson; and secondly, Williams is to die because he has maintained his innocence.
From the denial:
So, in the end, the governor feels he must punish the unrepentant. The governor has truly learned his lessons well from the holy roller in the White House.
Just to be clear, the “document” is the governor’s denial of clemency. It is a PDF, so it may open a new window in your browser.
This isn’t a snark at you but rather it’s a snark at the WH:
It’s funny that Gov Arnold is punishing the unrepentant after taking his cue from the Whitehouse. Expecially since Bush is famously known for never accepting blame.
Schwarzenegger learned this crap as a child from his policeman father in Austria and later from Nazi collaborator Kurt Waldheim.
His comments on the whole list are worth quoting:
Th context of that list is one that naturally Arnie has to reject out of hand. Wonder if he noticed the ruling in Mumia’s case last week?
Jerlaynn cites a Center for Wrongful Convictions report to keep in mind with Williams’ case:
What kind of court system do we have that finds as harmless error a prosecutor prosecutor who “made numerous racist remarks during the trial, comparing Stan to a ‘Bengal Tiger’ in the San Diego Zoo whose natural jungle ‘habitat’ was the equivalent of South Central Los Angeles”?
I too am oppossed to the death penalty. It is morally wrong. It doesn’t work as a deterrent. And I am oppossed to giving the state the power of life and death. So I wanted but did not expect clemency for this man.
But on to the larger, more ignored question:
What is the purpose of the corrections system?
Is it to correct? Or to punish? Or both? Something else?
This man killed several people. He deserves to be locked away. This man is responsible, through his creation and leadership of the crips, of a great deal more violence, crime, and death… including any that may follow his execution tonight. For the safety of society he ought to be locked away.
But what is the purpose of the corrections system? Do we simply punish people that break the law? Do we lock them up and throw away the key? Do we write them off as human beings?
Or is it called a “corrections” system for a reason?
Do we attempt to rehabilitate people that have gone astray? Do we attempt to correct bad behavior? Do we attempt to change “a menace to society” into a productive “member of society?”
This man did bad. No question about it. But this man also changed his ways and did what he could to correct the wrongs he had committed.
What is the purpose of our judicial/corrections system?
I am adamently oppossed to the death penalty so I am adamently oppossed to his execution tonight.
But what if the question was his continued life in prison or potential parole? What then?
I don’t know. At what point do you consider someone rehabilitated and give them a chance to rejoin society? What amount of on-going monitoring do we give them? What sort of assistance to help them become productive and safe members of society? What is it worth to us as a society to reduce recidivism? What is it worth to us as humans to save souls and lives?
The question is much larger then Stanley Tookie Williams. Our judicial/prison system is broken beyond belief and yet we do not address this deplorable situation at all in our political and social debate in America.
“Tough on crime!” That’s the theme. It sounds an awful lot like “Support our troops!” to me. Great slogans that could mean an awful lot if they weren’t debased into being absolutely meaningless by their misuse to stop real debate and action from occurring.
Peace,
Andrew
I said this in the earlier thread several days ago.
If Williams’ anti-gang writings and activities contributed to the saving of one more young person’s life by guiding them away from gang life and the violence and premature death that is so often the result there, the commutation of his sentence would have been worth it.
As it is, whether he committed the crimes for which he was convicted or not, there’s no actual benefit to society from killing him now.
As for Schwartzenegger’s refusal to grant clemency, I’m astonished that anyone would be surprised by his decision.
The rate at which our society in the US has gone retrograde and is descending into barbarism is unprecedented in the entire history of the modern world, and the shame this terrible regression is adding to the country’s already damaged reputation will bring terrible consequences for us all if we can’t find a way to reverse the trend and get back on a path toward some measure of enlightenment.
There are at last 3415 prisoners on death row:
Thanks to the death penalty, the state can continue to kill Americans for quite a long time.
repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce. Ignore it at your peril Arnold.
Watts
The political and racial climate is at a nadir which, IMHO, could be compared with the feelings and lack of hope that were boiling over at the time of the Watts Riots.
The Governator “making his bones”…Blackwater Security to follow.
Peace
It seems to me that there was no talk or [chatter] about rioting until the [dear leaders] started appealing for calm. It`s seemingly another incitement to violence. But then, does`nt violence beget violence?
KILL THE DEATH PENALTY
Our dear leaders will welcome riots if they happen because this wil give them an excuse to intensify their Law Or Order/police state agenda, just like they’ve been doing in Iraq.
except, oops, where’s the California National Guard?
Oh. Never mind…
Good point!
Maybe they’ll start hiring “private security contractors”, (i.e. mercenaries), to maintain order just like they do in Iraq.
(Anything that can drain state and local treasuries faster while putting more weapons into the hands of the “authorities” will work for these sociopaths. The more they spend on ORDER and SECURITY the less will be available to spend on social services.)
Hey, I’ve got a great idea! They could hire the Crips! They’ve already got their own weapons, they know the turf – it’s a win-win for everyone!
/ snark
Knowing the pathology of our lunatic leaders, they’d probably hire the “Bloods” instead, just to be more provocative.
I’d feel safer with that then bringing in Blackwell paramilitary thugs.
What do we expect our poor and huddled mass to do when the system fails them yet again?
The death penalty is a blight on us all.
I love how we call it the “death penalty”, like someone was bad in a hockey game. It’s not a penalty, it’s state-sponsored murder. Is Stanley Williams a murderer? The state tells us he is. He says he’s not, and I don’t know what to believe.
Here’s what I know. Tonight Arnold becomes a murderer, Bush is already a murderer, and every judge who upholds this barbaric practice is a murderer. Every defense attorney who sleeps through a trial is a murderer. And all of these hypocritical people who pray in public and then cheer the “death penalty” for another human being are murderers too.
Cloaking oneself in law doesn’t change what this is, or what these people are. They’re no better than someone who shoots someone on the street, and they demean all of us and our country.
Very well stated.
Thanks Grandma M. After I posted it, I worried that it was a bit too inflamatory, but it’s what I believe….
Who on earth would want to be a governor and decide whether somone should live or die…period.
But then when there ia an element of doubt about their guilt…..
And to be governor and not be a really serious person, but a person who is doing the job for the “thrill of it all” is just sickening.
Termninator…..he’s so confused about who he really is.
Apparently they are trying a few last minute appeals to the 9th circuit, but I don’t think anyone is holding out much hope.
I could be wrong (I often am) but I still don’t see who it is people think will be likely to ‘riot’ once Tookie is killed. Gang members, maybe – although they need little encouragement to violence at the best of times, it seems… but then again, the latter part of William’s time seems to have been working against gang members, so maybe not them so much. Just regular kids, disappointed and angry and with excess energy? maybe. Again, though… even the end of something like a football or other sports game seems to set folks of all sorts off, so a jumping on the bandwagon thing is a real possibility. Folks who have felt the impact of the Crips and other gangs may not be so enthusiastic, however.
I would say though, that… there is that saying, “hope deferred makes the heart sick” which one should take into account. Me, I don’t know of a single black person of any age (inserted here of course that I don’t know all black people and speak only for myself, etc, etc) that believed that a Republican governor, with low poll ratings, no natural base, and facing an election in the next year, was going to grant clemency to a black prisoner, especially one with Tookie’s history. So, little hope there in the first place.
With the Rodney King thing, that was the last straw in a long and recent line of very public straws, directly affecting the LA communities, especially in the areas of the justice system (or lack of it) and accountability. I am no longer an Angeleno so maybe there is lots of stuff I’m not taking into consideration, but just looking at it from the outside, the threat of any wide-spread or coordinated violence just seems to me to be highly unlikely.
I think if there is any violence, it’s likely to be the opportunistic kind. I don’t feel like large chunks of the city are going to go up in flames. I worry about neighborhoods where gangs are active, mostly.
And I’m hoping you’re right, Nanette, that it won’t provoke much.
Other than a huge amount of disgust, dismay and anger that the state is once again putting a man to death.
Well, I hope I’m right too… ;). I think it’s possible there may be sporadic opportunistic violence, but I am not sure even that is likely. People seem to be under the impression that black people riot at the drop of a hat, or anytime some verdict doesn’t go the way some people think it should or something. If that were the case, cities would be in a constant uproar.
It is my impression that the Tookie Williams we’ve been hearing about for the past few days is basically a media/celebrity creation… I am not really sure how much support he has within black neighborhoods, especially the gang infested ones. I would imagine that many people in the poorer neighborhoods who have had to deal with gangs, police brutality or other malfeasance, have their own Tookies who are either in prison, have been in prison, are on death row, or have been killed in the violence spawned in the wake of gangs, or by the gangs themselves.
Don’t get me wrong… I am absolutely against the state killing people, and I don’t think Williams should be killed, nor any of the others on death row. And I’m very glad that Williams, in the latter part of his life, has turned things around and has been working to try and save kids from gangs and all that, but the guy was a gangbanger, and more than that, a creator of the species… I just don’t believe that his being killed will start a big conflagration, because… well, I just don’t. As I said before, I’m puzzled as to just who it is people think will riot over this. (Now watch the city blow up and prove me wayyyyyy wrong, sigh).
Well, I live in a neighborhood that’s home to a set of Crips. Things are pretty calm most of the time. In 92 there were some problems. And in the case of my neighborhood, I don’t think it was a spontaneous expression of outrage but rather an opportunistic, “hey, let’s burn some stuff and beat a couple people up.” Criminal activity, basically. So that’s the kind of thing I worry about. To be honest, it didn’t even occur to me till a couple of days ago to worry, so maybe I’m just reacting to the media hype as well. All that made me remember 92 – which believe me, I rarely think about, other than in an abstract, intellectual sense – and how utterly weird that was.
But, yeah. Like I say above, whether Williams has redeemed himself or not isn’t really the point, for me. I just think the death penalty is wrong under any circumstances. I read a step by step account of the execution process the other day, and it’s utterly horrific to contemplate.
Let’s all riot over New Orleans instead
Nay, even middle-class – but I’d like an alternative somewhere between rioting and doing nothing.
Any ideas?
And how averse one is to violating the Patriot Act.
Writing strongly-worded letters to the corporate lackeys in Washington is not a violation of the Act, and provides valuable psychological comfort to many people.
Any other goal or action would violate the Patriot Act.
Oh…
Never mind.