Bye Bye Tookie

The execution of Tookie Williams has brought several issues to public discussion.

The first issue is the death penalty itself. Would Williams have been sentenced to die if he had been white? Remember the way he looked when he was younger. He looked pretty mean. He was big; he had “big hair.” He looked like he would have committed the crimes. Do you suppose he actually did?

The second issue involves the entertainment industry. Where were they 24 years ago and in the interim? They waited until after Williams had exhausted all his appeals. They failed to understand that over those 24 years Williams had failed to make his case. None of his appeals were based on the lack of evidence to convict him.

The third issue is the one where we punish people we don't like and absolve those we like. Victim impact statements are proof of that point. Punishment of the convicted should not matter how nice the victim was or how horrible a person they were; if they were a good family person or a vagrant; if they were despised by thousands or if they were loved by thousands. The punishment should fit the crime regardless.

Tookie Williams has shown all of his “little” friends that if you commit the crime you pay for it. Kill and be killed. His gang, the Crips, is much larger than Manson’s family and during the past 24 years has been responsible for hundreds if not thousands of deaths and caused many others to fear for their lives. Why not get on the bandwagon to free Manson and his cronies?

Maybe when someone is sentenced to prison or to death the judge should add the disclaimer "unless you write a book or unless the entertainment industry likes you and in the case of the death penalty if you can string out your appeals for 20 years we will let you go free."