On "Tookie" Williams . . .

L.A. Community Leaders Urge Calm if Williams is Executed.

QUOTE:
LOS ANGELES — Community leaders Friday called for peace in the city if convicted killer and Crips gang co-founder Stanley Tookie Williams is put to death next week as scheduled. Though community opinions about Williams vary, even a small group could provoke widespread civil unrest, said Councilman Bernard Parks, a former police chief. Parks alluded to the 1992 Los Angeles riots that followed the acquittal of white police officers in the beating of black motorist Rodney King.
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OK, this doesn't make sense. They don't want him executed. Basically, you could say, they don't want violence. So what will they (probably) do if he is punished? Go around on a violent rampage, acting like spoiled children. That's a mighty fine way of gettin' your point across. It just doesn't make sense.

QUOTE:
Williams' supporters, from political leaders to the rapper Snoop Dogg, say Williams has turned his life around . . .
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This really gets me. A lot of people have played this card. "He repented. He's changed. Why punish him?" First of all, just because someone repents; it doesn't mean they don't have to face the consequences of their actions. I'm not saying you can't ever forgive someone. But forgiveness does not equate to pardon. Period.

Alright, secondly (is that a word?) not punishing someone because they repent and change is foolhardy. Ridiculous. Then everyone sentenced to die would "repent" before they were to be killed. Simple.

QUOTE:
...[Williams' supporters] say Williams has turned his life around and become a positive influence in fighting gang violence through his writing. To execute him now, they say, would take away one of the most effective voices urging young people to steer clear of gangs.
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To not execute him would be a message that you don't have to pay for your crimes. Besides, who ever said he was "one of the most effective voices urging young people to steer clear of gangs"? I'd never heard of him before a few weeks ago.

QUOTE:
If the governor grants clemency, Williams' death sentence would be commuted to life without parole.
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And we can only hope and pray that he does not. Justice depends on it.