StreetSeen
New Member
The cultural significance of Stan Tookie Williams alone is huge, even if I believed in the death penalty (which I don't) I would let this man live out his years.
His anti-gang work during his 26 1/2 years in prison has been huge, for this reason alone I would be comfortable paroling him now (releasing him).
As it stands he is set to be executed on the 13th of December...
Stan was the co-founder in 1971 of the Los Angeles Crips gang. In 1981 he was convicted of murdering four people during two robberies and sentenced to death row at San Quentin State Prison. Stan deeply regrets his gang involvement but has always maintained his innocence of these crimes.His anti-gang work during his 26 1/2 years in prison has been huge, for this reason alone I would be comfortable paroling him now (releasing him).
As it stands he is set to be executed on the 13th of December...
His trial was based on circumstantial evidence and the testimony of several witnesses, all of whom were facing a range of felony charges, including fraud, rape, murder and mutilation.
Even the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals stated in a September 10, 2002, ruling that the witnesses in Stan’s case had “less-than-clean backgrounds and incentives to lie in order to obtain leniency from the state in either charging or sentencing.”
There was physical evidence, but none of it pointed to Stan.
Nobel Peace Prize Nominee
While on death row, Stan has written 9 highly-acclaimed children’s books that educate young people to avoid gangs, crime and incarceration. He has also worked to end gang violence through his peace protocol and Internet Project for Street Peace, an international peer mentoring program. Stan has saved the lives of over 150,000 youth, as reported by them, their parents, teachers and law enforcement officials in their emails to Stan ([email protected]).
He has recently published his memoir, Blue Rage, Black Redemption, which has been nominated for a James Madison Book Award. His work has resulted in multiple nominations for the Nobel Peace and Literature prizes. This summer Stan’s work was even recognized by the President of the United States when he received a presidential award for his volunteer work to help youth. Stan’s story was also recently made into a television movie, Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story, starring Academy Award winner Jamie Foxx. The movie was honored by the Sundance and Cannes Film Festivals, and was nominated for a Golden Globe and other prestigious awards.
Saving Stan, Saving Our Civil Rights
Stan, like many prisoners, experienced racism in the criminal justice system. His prosecutor kicked off three African-Americans from serving as jurors in Stan’s trial, resulting in Stan being convicted by a virtually all-white jury (no African-Americans; one Latino; one Filipino; ten Caucasians). This prosecutor made numerous racist remarks during the trial, comparing Stan to a “Bengal Tiger” in the San Diego Zoo whose natural jungle “habitat” was the equivalent of South Central Los Angeles.
The California State Supreme Court had twice censured this same prosecutor for equally discriminatory behavior. Indeed, a member of the California Supreme Court at that time made the following statement about that prosecutor: ...I believe that we must place the ultimate blame on its real source – the prosecutor. It was he who unconstitutionally struck Black prospective jurors. The record compels this conclusion and permits none other… This prosecutor knew that such conduct was altogether improper. The trial court told him as much. And so did we… This court attempted to teach this same prosecutor that invidious discrimination was unacceptable when we reversed a judgment of death because of similar improper conduct on his part. He failed - or refused - to learn his lesson. The result is another reversal - and another costly burden on the administration of justice.
On October 11, 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Stan’s appeal to investigate the racism and discrimination at the heart of his case, as well as Stan’s innocence issues. This denial established as “case law” for the entire nation the right of prosecutors to exclude jurors on the basis of race and to denigrate minority defendants in front of white juries.
The ruling is a frontal attack on the civil rights of all Americans.
Will the State Execute a Nobel Peace Prize Nominee?
An execution date has been set for Stan Tookie Williams: December 13, 2005. In November 2005 his attorneys plan to file another Federal Habeas Petition that presents new evidence of innocence.
At the same time a clemency team of lawyers has been formed to prepare a clemency petition for California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s consideration. That clemency petition will be submitted to the Governor of California on November 7, 2005.
Why Stanley Tookie Williams Should Receive Clemency
In the United States clemency is a request for a Governor (only a Governor can grant clemency) to not impose the death penalty, but instead to impose an alternative sentence: Life without the possibility of parole.
So clemency does not mean freedom for the prisoner. It means that the person will spend the rest of his life in prison unless he can later prove innocence through further appeals.
Stanley Tookie Williams deserves clemency. From a 9-by-4 foot cell he has undertaken extraordinary work to serve humanity in his effort to reverse the destructive legacy of the Crips youth gang.
If Governor Schwarzenegger grants clemency to Stanley Tookie Williams he will have made an historic move to diminish youth violence in this country and abroad because of the powerful work that Stan would be able to continue to do, using his credible voice to reduce the presence of street gangs throughout this nation and around the world.
Even the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals wrote an unprecedented conclusion to its September 10, 2002, ruling about Stan. The Court concluded that Stan was doing “laudable” work that made him “worthy” of consideration for clemency.
He is to be executed December 13, 2005.
More Details: http://forums.homeless.org.au/showthread.php?t=511
