December 13, 2005
2:18 AM   Subscribe

Stanley "Tookie" Williams was executed in San Quentin tonight. The founder of the "Crips" street gang, in 1979 Williams was convicted of several murders involving armed robbery. From prison he has campaigned against gang violence, work that earned him several Nobel Peace Prize nominations. He was denied clemency by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger earlier in the day.
posted by ScottMorris (14 comments total)

This post was deleted for the following reason: please post in the open thread



 
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posted by ScottMorris at 2:18 AM on December 13, 2005


Double.
posted by Rothko at 2:21 AM on December 13, 2005


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posted by magpie68 at 2:28 AM on December 13, 2005


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posted by maryh at 2:30 AM on December 13, 2005


good riddance
posted by drscroogemcduck at 2:32 AM on December 13, 2005


c ya
posted by fixedgear at 2:32 AM on December 13, 2005


Rothko, it's done, and there was still some question in that thread about what the outcome would be.
To another man killed by the state:
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posted by maryh at 2:35 AM on December 13, 2005



posted by Steve_at_Linnwood at 2:35 AM on December 13, 2005


Any "professor" of history, philosophy, theology, law or a social science can nominate someone for a Nobel peace prize. How stringent is that? Not very!
posted by shoos at 2:37 AM on December 13, 2005


Ah well, this just demonstrates again that the American judicial system is overwhelmingly about punishment rather than rehabilitation.

Whether this makes anyone safer is left as an exercise for the reader.
posted by cstross at 2:49 AM on December 13, 2005


I live in the UK where we don't have the death penalty and I go out and commit murder all the time... now if only we had capital punishment for a deterent I'm sure I would change my mind...

Another victory for Justice!

But on a less sarcastic note, would it not have been better for 'Tookie' to spend the rest of his life in a box to think about what he did? Does killing him serve any usefull purpose? Mind you with all the gun violence and such in the USA i suppose you can do with the extra cell space.
posted by Meccabilly at 2:54 AM on December 13, 2005


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posted by By The Grace of God at 3:00 AM on December 13, 2005


If the prospect of being killed yourself if you commit murder is surely going to put some people off commiting murder (instead they may break knee caps or summin instead).

Personally, from the very little I know about this guy (and I'll be honest, I'm too lazy to read it all) - I think it right they continued the punishment fully.

Sick of people getting away with things because they "had a bad childhood", "where on drugs and so not responsible for their actions" or simply "stubbed a toe as a kid". Annoyed that people blame anything but themselves and then people feel sorry for them for being the victim (not the actual victims of the crime...)

That DeNiro film "15 Minutes" seems apt to my point.

I know plenty of people who have had difficult times through one thing and another - but as they're not retarded they havent been out and killed anyone and never will.

If you think its right to go around killing other people for your own selfish gains - you should be locked up and lethally injected.

Just my 2 cents.
posted by 13twelve at 3:09 AM on December 13, 2005


This scum deserves no periods
posted by kjh at 3:15 AM on December 13, 2005


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