The big debate

I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know all of the facts in the case, but it seems to me that there is no better example of a rehabilitated prisoner than that of Stanley Tookie Williams. The man has written many anti-gang books and was even nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. But apparently the only thing that mattered was that a jury sentenced him to death, and Williams was killed early this morning.

I’ve always been torn on the death penalty in this country. If there’s one issue where I wish I was more liberal it’s this issue. I’m completely against the death penalty being sentenced to juveniles and the mentally handicapped. However I tend to side more with the families of the victims of these crimes and believe that putting sane, adult murderers to death helps them grieve and move on with their lives. I wish I didn’t feel this way because I also think that the entire concept of capital punishment is barbaric and does nothing to lower the crime rate in this country.

Where I come from if the law doesn’t work then people tend to take the law into their own hands. You may remember last year’s murder for her baby of the pregnant woman from my home town, and I’ve said before that I hope her murderer gets the death penalty. I’ve also found myself wishing that Wisconsin had the death penalty. The only distinction I can justify in my mind is that these crimes affected those I care about and I want to see these murderers suffer.

It’s important to me, however, that we be absolutely certain of a person’s guilt before the death penalty is handed down. Ah-nold said he refused to grant clemency in the Williams case because Williams showed no remorse for his crimes. But Williams claimed to the end that he was innocent. Could DNA evidence have proven that he was in fact innocent of the crimes that occurred in 1979? We may never know, but I thought they should have at least tried before putting him to death.

There’s also the issue of the level of rehabilitation of prisoners to justify granting them clemency. While it was obvious to me that Williams turned his life around while in prison some feel that the only reason he became anti-gang was to avoid being put to death. I remember a few years ago people were arguing for clemency for a woman in Texas because while in prison she became a born-again Christian. To me it seemed too convenient for her to suddenly find God but others felt differently. Where do we set the bar to determine if a person has become rehabilitated enough to grant clemency?

I don’t think that capital punishment will end in my lifetime. It’s a debate that will continue for many years to come. And it’s an internal fight with which I hope someday I can come to peace.