Later "Tookie"

Well apparently Arnie does have a sack.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20051212/D8EETTB81.html

So does Santa...

Austria's two major political exports have both been bastards.

Bloody Austrians.

Why the fuck is a dreadful actor from Austria the governor of a US state anyway? I thought there were laws against that kind of thing.

OMG...what bullshit. He should have been granted clemency. Fuck Arnold! I won't even get started on how fucked up the prison system is. My thoughts are with you Tookie.

SYSTEMIC RACISM!! Really fucked up shit.

FREE MUMIA!!

Non-natives are allowed to be governors - but not president.

Yet...

Sorry but I'm confused here. I'm not familiar with this story but from what I just read in the link am i supposed to feel sorry for someone who killed 4 innocent people? It always amazes me how 'good' people become while in prison. How does that help the victim and their families?

Maybe I'll go start a gang, kill some people and write some childrens books and people can feel bad for me...

To be quite honest with you, if he's over there in California, at least he's not in Austria where I spend a lot of my time.

From a practical view, Tookie is more valuable to the government alive and speaking out against gangs than he is dead.

I will refrain from commenting on the moral or ethical aspects of this, though, because I personally am still sorting out how I feel about it.

I'm against the death penalty - and I too am sorting out how I feel about this, it's a really wrenching case both ways.

But ZsuZsanna, he wrote a KIDS book! Don't you get it? That wipes the slate clean. He was also nominated for the Nobel peace prize!

I nominate Lorelei for the Nobel Peace Prize.

There.

see how hard that was?

Anybody can be nominated; that doesn't mean that they deserve it.

(And yes, Lorelei, I know you were being sarcastic. )

Coming from a country where we've not had the death penalty in donkey's years, I find it all so strange that a court and a governor can decide whether someone lives or dies, murderer or not.

great next thing you know, some terrorist would be trying to run for president...(note the sarcasim)

Get the sequence straight... a "jury of his peers" found him guilty. Appeals courts have repeatedly ruled that his trial was "fair and just" according to the rules of the land --- all the way up to and including the US Supreme Court (twice in fact). The fact that a governor can completely PARDON a convicted criminal actually floors me - not that he can decide to uphold a conviction that multiple courts have already decided was correct.

Currently, the law in California is being enforced by this action - whether one agress with the death penalty or not, this is a simple fact. The law, as written, is being enforced - in this case, literally to the letter.

ok you people
this son of a bitch killed 4+ people in cold blood point blank
fuck him

Personally, I find the number of people that have been executed in this country, and then later proven to be innocent by DNA evidence alarming. The way I see it these are the arguements for the death penalty:

1. "It is a deterent against potential criminals committing crimes." Does anyone really believe this? Does anyone think of commiting a crime and stop and think "Well, jail I could deal with, but they might KILL me!" Somehow, I don't buy that.

2. "We shouldn't have to pay to keep a cold-blooded killer locked up for the rest of his life. His life is worthless to society anyway, let's just end it." FACT: With all the appeals involved, a death sentence is 10 times more expensive for the state than a life sentence. And the appeals are needed, because we already execute innocent people with alarming frequency.

3. "Why should we show more mercy to the killer than he did to his victims?" That is no reason. It's revenge. Killing the killer brings no one back from the dead. It doesn't erase the loss of the families. If you were really going to use that line of reasoning, why not kill the guy the same way he killed his most grusome victim? Why the "injection" to make the process painless? Hell, why don't we put him in an arena with 12 lions and watch him get eaten on national television? That would show we have no mercy!

I don't see how the death penalty makes ANY sense. Especially with a man who has consistantly denied his guilt when admitting guilt, would only help him. Especially when the evidence against him is so circumstantial. Especially with a man who MAY have commited the crimes in question over 20 years ago, and has reformed as much as Tookie has, and is doing nothing but helping society now. Let him try to make the world a better place to make up for his crimes. Why kill him????

I am opposed to the death penalty because there is no reversal if the possibility of innocence presents itself. I am a Buddhist and I firmlyu believe a law without compassion is evil.

Tookie Williams arguably killed four people in cold blood. Unarguably he started the crips gang which has been responsible for the deaths of thousands. Given the gang culture one can ask how many people did he kill that he was not prosecuted four. How many people died as a direct result of orders he gave to his gang members.


I am opposed to the death penalty. But there is nothing in my hear that believes Tookie Williams is anything less than a monster. I wish we did not have such laws in our country, but tookie williams does not deserve an special releif based on his so called reform.

Ask any convicted felon! They are all innocent. The travesty God knows I hope it doesn't happen to you or yours.

I think that a combination of deep-seated racism with the death penalty is horrifying.

YAY Arnold...WOOT!!!!!!

It's about time.

Uhm, yeah. I hope it never happens to your family or friends.
Burn Tookie Burn.

I am against the death penalty for a couple of reasons. I believe that it is wrong for anyone including an executioner to purposefully take a life. Second I believe that a life sentence is a worse punishment because the person has to rot in jail thinking about what he has done.

I can respect being for clemency due to belief against the death penalty but have no respect for pretty much any other reason in this case. This man has been tried and convicted of brutally killing 4 innocent people by a jury of his piers because of overwhelming evidence and had numerous appeals that were all denied because of overwhelming evidence. In case anyone doesn’t understand, this man is guilty yet has never taken responsibility for his crime.

Ok, so he wrote a children’s book and speaks out against gangs. Yes, this is a good thing but it does not somehow magically excuse him from responsibility for his actions. Under the law of the land, criminals guilty of such crimes are put to death. If I were for the death penalty I would have to say that few men have lived who deserve it as much as Tookie. Not only did he kill these 4 people then laugh at them while they died, he was the co-founder of one of the most brutal gangs in the history of our country and responsible for the deaths of who knows how many other people.

To claim that he is being executed because of his race is an insult to the people whose lives he took. He would be just as guilty if he were white or any other race and be facing the same fate. Should he die for his crimes? I believe nobody should but under the current law of the land the answer is clearly yes.

No, if I recall correctly from an AP story, he really WAS nominated for the prize. Yeah, anyone can nominate anyone. I know a guy who nominated himself for the Pulitzer each year so that he could put it on his resume. The outrage is that this man was put on a pedestal. Whatever little restitution could be made should be made humbly. A nice kiddie book does little to make up for the pain he brought about.

Honestly, I won't be shedding any tears over this guy.


PS: Please vote for me, everyone! I think I'm a shoe-in this year.

Unfortunately, not just anyone can nominate you for a Nobel Peace Prize - Pulitzer, yes
http://nobelprize.org/peace/nomination/nominators.html

As for the death penalty... bah, I don't feel like arguing for once in my life