On the upcoming execution of Tookie Williams

The following is from an e-mail alert making the rounds:

IN A MATTER OF DAYS on December 13th, Stan Tookie Williams is scheduled to be
executed by the State of California! He is innocent. All African Americans were
barred from his jury by the prosecutor, and the witnesses against him received
sentence reductions or dropping of charges in exchange for their testimony. Stan
is revered for his outreach to youth on avoiding gang violence, and has been
nominated for four Nobel Peace and Literature prizes.

I have just sent URGENT FINAL APPEAL messages to California Governor
Schwarzenegger, President Bush, the California congressional delegation and my
congressional delegation saying "STOP THE EXECUTION OF STAN TOOKIE WILLIAMS
NOW!" through the International Action Center's STAN TOOKIE WILLIAMS CAMPAIGN.

Please take the time to do the same by clicking on the link at the bottom of
this email message.

Thanks!


http://www.iacenter.org/tookiewilliamscampaign.shtml

Subject: Petition to Save Tookie Williams

Dear Friends,

I am writing to please ask you to sign a petition asking for clemency
for Stan Tookie Williams, scheduled to be executed by the State of
California on Tuesday, December 13th, 2005. The petition can be signed
at: http://www.iacenter.org/tookiewilliamscampaign.shtml.

As Gov. Arnold Schwartzenegger dallies trying to figure out which way
he'll gain the most votes, either by murdering a man or letting him
live, the day assigned for Tookie Williams' death draws very close.

Stan Tookie Williams was a leader of the Crips Gang in California. He is
being murdered by the State of California due to his false conviction
for murder. No physical evidence linked him to the crime. The prosecutor
used blatantly racist tactics to win the conviction and the death
sentence.

While incarcerated Tookie Williams has written a number of children's
books aimed at ending youth and gang violence. He's been nominated for
the Nobel Prize for his work.

In any case, the death penalty in the USA is racist and cruel in its
implementation, and immoral and wrong in its existence. All other
western nations have outlawed the death penalty. Only the United States
continues with this particularly cruel, indefensible, and unusual
punishment. The death penalty should be outlawed in the United States.

While the families of the people who were murdered call for Tookies
murder, the criminal justice system does not nor should it exist to
assuage the need for revenge by anyone. The criminal justice system
exists as the means of physical oppression against those in this country
who would rise up to demand an end to the exploitation and abuse we
suffer at the hands of the wealthy. It is racist and anti-working class
from top to bottom and no one should be killed for being caught up in
its powerful hands. At its best, the criminal justice system exists to
protect society from harm, not to exact revenge.

Revenge is not a worthy response to the sadness and grief of such a deep
loss as the murder of loved ones. I would have wished for the sake of
the living who cared for them that the mourners would have risen, as
many have, beyond the grief of revenge to the grief of forgiveness and
celebration of life.

Please take a few moments to sign the petition mentioned at the top of
this email and help to influence whether Stan Tookie Williams lives or
dies.

In unity and struggle

Yeah, I'm glad he has done some anti-gang work, but I am not convinced of his change of heart.

Apparently when asked to name names about CRIP criminal activity he has refused at every turn. Some people might think this is out of fear, but it looks like its out of pride and glory for his organization.

From http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/11/19/gang.execution.ap/index.html:
In his book, Williams addressed nearly all of Crittendon's accusations <of continued gang loyalty and activity>, saying that informing on gang members would "rip my dignity out of my chest," that he gets along with everyone in the yard, and that his son is trying to change his ways.

Still a loyal Crip. Sorry, no clemency for you tookie.

let's start witht he gang in d.c.

talk about a broken record

Okee Dokee. Pass the Kool-Aid.

The man was a violent thug who personally murdered numerous people, and who is likely responsible for countless other killings.

He may arguably have been rehabilitated to the point where he is doing something productive and beneficial for society, but innocent, he is not.

and he deserves to die -- rehab of a killer sould never set him/her free... to even breath air for more years.

the shotgun that needlessly killed 4 people. Read the pdf. Mr. Williams is no hero
or "wronged man" by the system. If you find fault w/ bush and all the unneeded deaths
from his war how can you not find fault with this scum bucket?


http://da.co.la.ca.us/pdf/swilliams.pdf

purchaser of a gun ever uses said gun?

That would certainly be an interesting argument.

a non cons also IDed him @ the murder sight @ around the time of the murder and the
weapon used @ the crime WAS BOUGHT BY HIM. Although i think the death penalty should
not be used because it costs far more then life without parole and in some cases innocent
people ( in most cases poor people ) have been sentenced to die this is not one of those cases.

The man is a stone cold killer.

Is it your contention that the only person who can use a firearm is the purchaser of record? If this is not your contention, then presenting such as an argument is a poor choice.

And I thought that it had already been shown that most of the claims in that letter are false. There was an African-American on the jury, etc.

Whether or not Tookie is granted clemency should have nothing to do with his guilt or innocence but with whether or not the death penalty should ever be used. Muddying the waters with false claims isn't doing death penalty opponents or Tookie any favors.

i even read the DA's report. the troubling thing about this case is that most of the eyewitnesses were cons who struck a deal for themselves...hardly reliable testimony. the rest of the evidence is circumstantial. and of course the presence of one black person on the jury doesn't prove that blacks weren't eliminated from the jury pool by the DA. it happened (and happens) routinely, so it's not a big surprise that it happened in this case, particularly at the time it happened. i don't believe all the scandals with the LAPD didn't affect the DA's office as well. perhaps i am just cyncial because i grew up in the same area that williams' did before the rest of the world knew about the LAPD's corruption.
what i keep hearing is that he is guilty of crimes he wasn't tried for, most especially starting the crips gang. that's justice in america though...for some, anyway.

for their own benefit could say nothing more than they saw 2 black men and a white station wagon.

My personal opinion? In the eyes of most his guilt or innocence of the crimes he's convicted of are irrelevant. They, as you said, want him dead for reasons other than what he was tried for.

but from what i read: the evidence was not "overwhelming" at all. yep...he will be executed for crimes he was never on trial for and never convicted of. i have no doubt he was guilty of crimes, btw...he just never got convicted for the ones he committed. and it is very possible he was guilty of the murders he was convicted for, however, the evidence of his guilt is hardly "overwhelming."

way been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt which is the legal requirement.

Should the soldiers convicted of war crimes be executed also?

A simple Yes or No will suffice.

In fact, they haven't even been arrested yet.

Tookie was arrested in 1979, tried, convicted, sentenced, 20+ years of appeals, (Including some Democratic Governors and the 9th circuit court which is the nation's most progressive.) has lost all the appeals.

Different situations.

if they were convicted of war crimes?

(I was hoping to use this pic another time...)

There was a post circulating here last week with a .pdf file summarizing the evidence in the case. There was physical evidence and eyewitness testimony from several sources. He was guilty as sin. His legal team isn't even challenging the conviction, they're just trying to get him clemency based on his 'good works' since he commited these heinous crimes.

You don't do your cause any justice by saying that Williams was innocent when there was overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Having blacks on his jury wouldn't have helped a bit as long as they were rational in weighing what was presented in the courtroom.

" The criminal justice system
exists as the means of physical oppression against those in this country
who would rise up to demand an end to the exploitation and abuse we
suffer at the hands of the wealthy. "

This is insulting - how is killing a convenience store clerk (who left a child in the world, btw) and murdering a family in a hotel an act of revolution? There are people who are genuinely committed to aiding in the struggle against poverty in this country. But part of that struggle is fending off predators in their community - men like Tookie Williams.

It has been debunked many times here on DU. I don't feel like posting the debunking again. If you will bring up previous Tookie thread you will find discussion there of the TRUTH.

But then, who said America was civilized?