Stanley “Tookie” Williams Executed

Just after the clock tolled midnight marking the end of Monday and the beginning of Tuesday, the state of California administered a lethal cocktail of drugs to Stanley “Tookie” Williams. His execution for four murders brought an end to very high profile efforts to win mercy from the state. As founder of the Crips street gang, he merited contempt. As a reformed gang-banger, he deserved some measure of respect. However, the entire incident leaves one with mixed emotions at best.

The execution of a human being is the Big One as far as a nation’s judicial system goes. In general, capital punishment shouldn’t be used except in cases where the continued existence of the individual poses a clear danger to society. Prison exists to keep those who cannot play by the rules away from the rest of the human race – deterrence, punishment and rehabilitation are happy by-products but they are not the reason for jails. Death as a punishment is different. Hitler, Napoleon, Pol Pot, Stalin merited death. Tookie Williams and others who kill without using the state apparatus to do so, probably not because their ability to undermine society as a whole is nil. Had the Crips become the government, though, his crimes would have been far greater and vastly more damaging.

Nonetheless, as a young man, Mr. Williams was a real problem. Founding a gang as big and evil as the Crips was a huge crime against America, and in particular, Black America. Indirectly, he is guilty of the death of every Crip, Blood and other street hood who every wore gang colors. While he did not accept responsibility for the four murders of which he was convicted, maintaining his innocence to the end, he was not a pillar of society. In prison, he changed. Some might say he grew up. He co-wrote anti-gang books and preached non-violence. Oscar winner Jaime Foxx starred in a movie about him, the message of which was his change of attitude.

Yet, there are the four dead people to consider. Yen-I Yang, Tsai-Shai Chen Yang, Yu-Chin Yang Lin and Albert Owens haven’t had as much ink as Mr. Williams. They died because Mr. Williams, or someone else, refused to behave. Was his trial unfair? Was any evidence lost, misused or fabricated? Did someone else get away with murder? These are all awkward questions that argue against an execution – if any of the answers is “yes,” then justice can come never, but not late.

Clemency, which Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger denied hours before the execution, should hinge on what benefits the aggrieved society. Did the execution serve the interests of California, and America, more than life in prison while he continued his anti-gang work would have? This case was never black and white – it was greyest grey. One hopes that the governor can live with his decision, that the judges and juries are satisfied with theirs. One also hopes that the Yang and Owens families as well as the Williams family find some solace somewhere. This was not anyone’s finest hour.

© Copyright 2005 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.
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