Clemency for Tookie? Why?
On consecutive days there were full-page advertisements in the Los Angeles Times calling for convicted murderer Stanley "Tookie" Williams to receive clemency at a hearing that will take place on December 8th, only 5 days prior to the scheduled execution date for the self-professed co-founder of the Crips gang.
Wow! I would love to know if the Times charged the sponsors of those ads their regular rate for full-age ads, because I wonder where all the money is coming from to back this orchestrated campaign calling for clemency for this convicted murderer. There is a fairly nice website www.savetookie.org that has some very slanted views of the facts in the case, arguing in favor of clemency, but then again, who would expect a balanced argument with both sides of the issues from a website that is trying to save this man? If anyone from the website happens to be reading this, I think you should know that the Supreme Court doesn't set execution dates. That's what your site claims in this section:
"The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Tookie on his final appeal and set his execution date for December 13. Thus they disregarded 9 of the 24 Ninth Circuit Court judges' assertion that the District Attorney at Tookie's trial employed "reprehensible and unconstitutional" racist tactics, using animal-in-a-jungle metaphors to refer to Tookie and to the South Central environment in which he lived. This landmark ruling means that minorities can now legally be rejected from juries based on race. This is now the law of the land."
An interesting piece of writing. First of all, it was Los Angeles Superior Court Judge William Pounders who set the execution date, not the United States Supreme Court. A small, but important distinction. The USSC doesn't set execution dates. Then let's look at the 9 out of 24 judges comment. That's 3/8ths of the members of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, the most liberal of all of the Federal Courts of Appeal in the Nation and less than one-half of its members come out in favor of this slanted position? Or in other words, more than one-half of the members of this very liberal court had no interest in hearing this appeal and do not feel that the DA engaged in reprehensible and unconstitutional racist tactics. For the math challenged out there, it was 15 to 9 decision, which if we apply a little math to it, comes out to a ratio of 5 to 3 opposing Tookie's motion. That's almost two to one, which seems almost overwhelming.
Oh yes, the lack of blacks on the jury? What about William McLurkin? His death certificate shows that he was black. Tookie's lawyers dismiss this though, saying "It doesn't matter if he was black or half-black, cause he looked Filipino." That's laughable.
What about "You can't kill him, he's a Nobel Peace Prize Nominee"? So now is a Los Angeles radio talk show host, who got himself nominated for the Peace Prize to illustrate how corrupt the nomination process is. Williams has been nominated for both the Peace Prize and for the Literature Prize, but those nominations are meaningless.
All sorts of Hollywood's best and brightest are campaigning to get clemency for Tookie. I have no problem with Mike Farrell, who is opposed to the Death Penalty in any instance. At least he is consistent and I laud that. But Danny Glover, Ed Asner, Jamie Foxx, Snoop Dogg and the Reverend Jessie Jackson and especially Bianca Jagger need to go back to their vapid little lives and stop trying to prevent this murderer's date with destiny.
Maybe if they were to take a moment out and read the Los Angeles District Attorney's response to the clemency petition. Or this article: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/printer-friendly.asp?ARTICLE_ID=47647
that includes evidence that Tookie hasn't been the model inmate that he has been painted as. Here's a partial list of his transgressions since being imprisoned:
throwing a chemical substance in the eyes of a guard Jan. 28, 1982, in an attack that resulted in chemical burns and emergency treatment;
a second attack on a guard with a chemical substance Jan. 29, 1982;
an attack on another inmate Feb. 16, 1984, in which Williams only stopped beating the prisoner when a warning shot was fired;
a threat to kill a guard June 8, 1984;
the beating of another inmate Dec. 24, 1991, that only stopped after a warning shot was fired;
another fight with other inmates July 6, 1993, in which a stabbing instrument (shank) was recovered.
Oh yes, there is the fact that this Nobel Peace Prize nominee threatened all of the jury members when they found him guilty. "Specifically, the defendant looked at the jurors and said he 'was going to get all' of them," said the report. "After learning of this threat, the trial judge inquired of the jury foreperson. The foreperson confirmed the defendant mouthed the words 'I'm going to get each and every one of you m-----f------." Now that's the reaction of an innocent man, wrongfully convicted? I don't think so.
Is he really saving any lives? According to a column written by a Los Angeles actor, Book Scan reports show that Tookie's books don't sell very many copies. If the books don't sell, and he isn't out on the trail talking to kids, how is he changing lives? By example?
The supporters of this drive for clemency say that they are working for justice for Tookie. Where is the justice for the Yang family? Where is the justice for Albert Owens?
Wow! I would love to know if the Times charged the sponsors of those ads their regular rate for full-age ads, because I wonder where all the money is coming from to back this orchestrated campaign calling for clemency for this convicted murderer. There is a fairly nice website www.savetookie.org that has some very slanted views of the facts in the case, arguing in favor of clemency, but then again, who would expect a balanced argument with both sides of the issues from a website that is trying to save this man? If anyone from the website happens to be reading this, I think you should know that the Supreme Court doesn't set execution dates. That's what your site claims in this section:
"The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Tookie on his final appeal and set his execution date for December 13. Thus they disregarded 9 of the 24 Ninth Circuit Court judges' assertion that the District Attorney at Tookie's trial employed "reprehensible and unconstitutional" racist tactics, using animal-in-a-jungle metaphors to refer to Tookie and to the South Central environment in which he lived. This landmark ruling means that minorities can now legally be rejected from juries based on race. This is now the law of the land."
An interesting piece of writing. First of all, it was Los Angeles Superior Court Judge William Pounders who set the execution date, not the United States Supreme Court. A small, but important distinction. The USSC doesn't set execution dates. Then let's look at the 9 out of 24 judges comment. That's 3/8ths of the members of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, the most liberal of all of the Federal Courts of Appeal in the Nation and less than one-half of its members come out in favor of this slanted position? Or in other words, more than one-half of the members of this very liberal court had no interest in hearing this appeal and do not feel that the DA engaged in reprehensible and unconstitutional racist tactics. For the math challenged out there, it was 15 to 9 decision, which if we apply a little math to it, comes out to a ratio of 5 to 3 opposing Tookie's motion. That's almost two to one, which seems almost overwhelming.
Oh yes, the lack of blacks on the jury? What about William McLurkin? His death certificate shows that he was black. Tookie's lawyers dismiss this though, saying "It doesn't matter if he was black or half-black, cause he looked Filipino." That's laughable.
What about "You can't kill him, he's a Nobel Peace Prize Nominee"? So now is a Los Angeles radio talk show host, who got himself nominated for the Peace Prize to illustrate how corrupt the nomination process is. Williams has been nominated for both the Peace Prize and for the Literature Prize, but those nominations are meaningless.
All sorts of Hollywood's best and brightest are campaigning to get clemency for Tookie. I have no problem with Mike Farrell, who is opposed to the Death Penalty in any instance. At least he is consistent and I laud that. But Danny Glover, Ed Asner, Jamie Foxx, Snoop Dogg and the Reverend Jessie Jackson and especially Bianca Jagger need to go back to their vapid little lives and stop trying to prevent this murderer's date with destiny.
Maybe if they were to take a moment out and read the Los Angeles District Attorney's response to the clemency petition. Or this article: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/printer-friendly.asp?ARTICLE_ID=47647
that includes evidence that Tookie hasn't been the model inmate that he has been painted as. Here's a partial list of his transgressions since being imprisoned:
throwing a chemical substance in the eyes of a guard Jan. 28, 1982, in an attack that resulted in chemical burns and emergency treatment;
a second attack on a guard with a chemical substance Jan. 29, 1982;
an attack on another inmate Feb. 16, 1984, in which Williams only stopped beating the prisoner when a warning shot was fired;
a threat to kill a guard June 8, 1984;
the beating of another inmate Dec. 24, 1991, that only stopped after a warning shot was fired;
another fight with other inmates July 6, 1993, in which a stabbing instrument (shank) was recovered.
Oh yes, there is the fact that this Nobel Peace Prize nominee threatened all of the jury members when they found him guilty. "Specifically, the defendant looked at the jurors and said he 'was going to get all' of them," said the report. "After learning of this threat, the trial judge inquired of the jury foreperson. The foreperson confirmed the defendant mouthed the words 'I'm going to get each and every one of you m-----f------." Now that's the reaction of an innocent man, wrongfully convicted? I don't think so.
Is he really saving any lives? According to a column written by a Los Angeles actor, Book Scan reports show that Tookie's books don't sell very many copies. If the books don't sell, and he isn't out on the trail talking to kids, how is he changing lives? By example?
The supporters of this drive for clemency say that they are working for justice for Tookie. Where is the justice for the Yang family? Where is the justice for Albert Owens?
posted by me at 9:17 AM
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