No Clemency For The Unapologetic
There's a huge celebrity-led movement for Arnold to grant clemency to Tookie Williams. His execution is coming up, and on the tails of Jamie Foxx's portrayal of Williams in the movie Redemption, Hollywood and activists are abuzz with energy and advocacy. (see: MM, VC)
The problem is not just that Williams was convicted of four brutal, cold-blooded homicides. In 1979 he executed a convenience store clerk in the back of the head with his sawed-off shotgun and later laughed about it in front of a witness, mocking the sound of his dying victim. At another time, he murdered a Taiwanese couple and their daughter with a sawed-off shotgun, destroying half the girl's face. He called them Buddhaheads and took what money they had on them. Tookie was convicted of these four murders, but even if he'd only killed the conviencie store clerk that would still count as "murder one with circumstances' and be sufficient as a capital crime in most death penalty states (including California).
The real problem for clemency is that Tookie has still not admitted guilt 24 years after his conviction, nor has he been remorseful or contrite, or made apologies to his victims. The closest he camer to it was denouncing gangs, trying to get kids out of gangs, and apologizing for the atrocities he and gang members committed against black people. The three Taiwanese victims apparently can go to hell, because they're not black. Good message, there.
How can he be redeemed if he refuses to admit real guilt and apologize? I wouldn't even think that he should get clemency if he did apologize for his murders (it would look far too much like an attempt to save his life) but at least it would be a stronger argument. The only arguments going for him now are: 1) if you oppose the death penalty prima facie (I do not); 2) the fact that he counsels little kids on how gangs work in order to deter them from joining a gang (it sounds almost like a gang recruiting session, he'd be better off talking to the cops and testifying against his former murderers-in-arms); and 3) the fact that he had a movie made about him called Redemption (lots of bad guys have movies made about them, otherwise Leni Riefenstahl would just be a former German actress).
This is just another one of the left's causes. Whenever a minority finds himself in prison, and he's somehow famous, he can often find himself the cause of socialists and activists.
That's how Leonard Peltier, who killed federal agents in North Dakota, was nominated as the 2004 Presidential candidate for the Peace and Freedom Party. Peltier was a fugitive from justice, evading prosecution for the attempted murder of an off-duty cop in milwaukee. He mistakenly thought the FBI guys were there for him, when they were actually looking for Jimmy Eagle, in connection with the torture and robbery of two farm hands. Because Peltier wasn't just a murderer, but a murderer connected to the American Indian Movement, socialists try to suggest that the government's real intention is to frame him in order to silence him.
It's also why lefties the world over clamored for Mumia Abu-Jamal (Wesley Cook) to be freed. He was convicted of murdering a Philly cop, but his death sentence was commutted in 2001, while his conviction was yet again reaffirmed. Because Mumia was a Black Panther, socialists like to assert that the FBI framed him (in part because the FBI actually did frame people, including Black Panthers) even though he's received numerous trials and appeals and they've all seen his conviction upheld. There's a lot less action around Mumia since his capital sentence was commutted to life in prison (the international community is mostly around to oppose the US death penalty) but being a famous Black panther can hekp get you out of the rap for murdering somebody, even a cop.
And so it is with Tookie, who doesn't have the claim of innocence on his side. His conviction is not disputed wildly by socialists, as Peltier's and Cook's are. They just want to keep him alive.
Well, he can't possibly deserve clemency until he apologizes.
con·trite
adj.
- Feeling regret and sorrow for one's sins or offenses; penitent.
The problem is not just that Williams was convicted of four brutal, cold-blooded homicides. In 1979 he executed a convenience store clerk in the back of the head with his sawed-off shotgun and later laughed about it in front of a witness, mocking the sound of his dying victim. At another time, he murdered a Taiwanese couple and their daughter with a sawed-off shotgun, destroying half the girl's face. He called them Buddhaheads and took what money they had on them. Tookie was convicted of these four murders, but even if he'd only killed the conviencie store clerk that would still count as "murder one with circumstances' and be sufficient as a capital crime in most death penalty states (including California).
The real problem for clemency is that Tookie has still not admitted guilt 24 years after his conviction, nor has he been remorseful or contrite, or made apologies to his victims. The closest he camer to it was denouncing gangs, trying to get kids out of gangs, and apologizing for the atrocities he and gang members committed against black people. The three Taiwanese victims apparently can go to hell, because they're not black. Good message, there.
How can he be redeemed if he refuses to admit real guilt and apologize? I wouldn't even think that he should get clemency if he did apologize for his murders (it would look far too much like an attempt to save his life) but at least it would be a stronger argument. The only arguments going for him now are: 1) if you oppose the death penalty prima facie (I do not); 2) the fact that he counsels little kids on how gangs work in order to deter them from joining a gang (it sounds almost like a gang recruiting session, he'd be better off talking to the cops and testifying against his former murderers-in-arms); and 3) the fact that he had a movie made about him called Redemption (lots of bad guys have movies made about them, otherwise Leni Riefenstahl would just be a former German actress).
This is just another one of the left's causes. Whenever a minority finds himself in prison, and he's somehow famous, he can often find himself the cause of socialists and activists.
That's how Leonard Peltier, who killed federal agents in North Dakota, was nominated as the 2004 Presidential candidate for the Peace and Freedom Party. Peltier was a fugitive from justice, evading prosecution for the attempted murder of an off-duty cop in milwaukee. He mistakenly thought the FBI guys were there for him, when they were actually looking for Jimmy Eagle, in connection with the torture and robbery of two farm hands. Because Peltier wasn't just a murderer, but a murderer connected to the American Indian Movement, socialists try to suggest that the government's real intention is to frame him in order to silence him.
It's also why lefties the world over clamored for Mumia Abu-Jamal (Wesley Cook) to be freed. He was convicted of murdering a Philly cop, but his death sentence was commutted in 2001, while his conviction was yet again reaffirmed. Because Mumia was a Black Panther, socialists like to assert that the FBI framed him (in part because the FBI actually did frame people, including Black Panthers) even though he's received numerous trials and appeals and they've all seen his conviction upheld. There's a lot less action around Mumia since his capital sentence was commutted to life in prison (the international community is mostly around to oppose the US death penalty) but being a famous Black panther can hekp get you out of the rap for murdering somebody, even a cop.
And so it is with Tookie, who doesn't have the claim of innocence on his side. His conviction is not disputed wildly by socialists, as Peltier's and Cook's are. They just want to keep him alive.
Well, he can't possibly deserve clemency until he apologizes.
con·trite
adj.
- Feeling regret and sorrow for one's sins or offenses; penitent.
Posted by neolibertarian on
November 28, 2005 at 10:51am