Tookie

I've been very interested lately in this Tookie Williams case. Evidently, this guy co-founded the Crips and in 1981 was convicted of killing four people. He's been on death row in California for the past 24 years because of that conviction and was finally executed early this morning.

The thing is, this guy says he didn't commit those murders. Sure, why would he, right? But since he's been in jail he has written many books for youth about gangs and how to avoid them and how to get out of them. He's been nominated more than once for the Nobel Peace Prize. He advocates against teen violence and gangs in general. His lawyers weren't advocating for his release from prison; they were only advocating for a life without parole sentence. They said that he was worth more to the world alive than dead.

And now the issue has turned into one of playing God, much like any decision where you get to decide who dies would. But it's more than just a decision of deciding who dies. It's a decision of his atonement and redemption. In fact, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said "Without an apology and atonement for these senseless and brutal killings there can be no redemption." So now it appears as though he is making the decision of who has had a change of heart and who has not, who has seen the error of their ways and who has not. The governor of California evidently knows more about the emotional value and political worth of this man and his intentions than anyone else in the universe. I don't know..."Oh my Schwarzenegger" just doesn't have the same ring to it...

What gets me is that they let this man sit for 24 years making social amends for his previous, non-prison life and now they've decided to kill him to "atone" for his previous sins. Disgusting..