While I commend Stanley “Tookie” Williams for paying off 25% of his debt to society, it’s a shame that so high a payment resulted in so low a percentage. Though I am a staunch advocate of the death penalty, it is never a pleasant moment to see it put to use. But then again punishment is usually like that.
Truly unnerving, however, was the Left’s reaction to his impending execution. We of course had the predictable Jesse Jackson crowd that apparently labors under the delusion that Blacks ought to be exempted from having to follow the law. Without exception, good old Jesse will defend someone solely based upon their skin color with complete disregard for the severity of their crime. Why bother slogging through a quagmire of facts when he can make a snap judgment based on skin color?
Then there were the Hollywood types who are always just so proud of themselves for thinking they know anything at all about anything at all. Predictably, it was just the same old anti-Conservative crowd that will show up to any event at which they can find a camera willing to televise their brilliant recitation of liberal bumper stickers. To them, Tookie (like any disaster) was just a political opportunity. It’s not as if they were campaigning for his life prior to its imminent end.
But all of those people are predictable and haven’t actually thought for themselves since the Eisenhower administration. What disturbed me most was the assertion that Tookie’s contributions to society (presumably his Johnny Come Lately anti-gang stance and not the cold-blooded murders of 4 innocent people or the formation of one of the country’s most violent and heinous street gangs) were sufficient to pardon him of his crimes. This thinking represents extremely twisted views of both justice and the value of human life.
Justice is all about equivalency which is why she is depicted holding a two-sided scale. It is not about feelings or vengeance and it most certainly is not about rehabilitation. It is a mathematical equation in which a crime must be met by a punishment of equal severity (incidentally why it is called Capital Punishment and not Capital Rehabilitation).
If we accept the premise that Tookie’s “charitable work” is sufficient to exonerate him from four counts of murder then we must agree that the equivalency works the other way as well: Those who have done a great deal of charitable work and denounced gang violence have accrued such a credit of moral decency that wanton homicide is not outside the realm of their well-earned privileges. Social workers and church groups everywhere are free to commit murder just so long as they have first completed the necessary number of hours helping out in the community.
What if one of these nut job killers of abortion doctors had belonged to a church group involved in assisting downtrodden communities and actively worked to rescue gang members from their destructive lifestyles? Is he to be exonerated in light of his charitable contributions? For some reason, I highly doubt that those who sought Tookie’s release would display equal sympathy for such a character.
And what would those four victims have done with their lives had they been permitted to keep them? Is Tookie’s post-incarceration contribution of greater value than the lives of those innocent people? Were their deaths an acceptable price to pay for all the wonderful work Tookie did after his arrest? When will we realize that life cannot be measured against good deeds as if any amount of charity could justify murder?
Let us also not forget that Tookie’s crimes were not limited to 4 counts of murder. How many other lives have been lost at the hands of the Crips? To my knowledge, Hitler never personally killed anyone but it is difficult to divorce him of responsibility in the human massacre carried out at the hands of his organization. Tookie’s crimes are many and terrible. The legacy he leaves behind is a following of dangerous ne’er-do-wells and witless celebrities, and the uncollectible debt of at least 3 innocent lives. The demand for his release is untenable and reflects a disregard for the value of human life of which Tookie himself would be proud.