Schwarzenegger denies clemency to Williams
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today denied clemency to Crips street gang founder Stanley Tookie Williams, who is now scheduled to die later tonight at the hands of the people of California.
I am opposed to the death penalty in all cases and I am tempted to criticize Schwarzenegger for refusing to do what seems to be the right thing.
Yet I must agree with Ann Althouse on this, at least in part: "Personally, I'm opposed to the death penalty, but I can't understand why this person deserves it less than others who don't get clemency. Fame shouldn't be enough. Having famous supporters shouldn't be enough."
Does Williams deserve clemency more than others? Well, he seems to have reformed himself in prison. Is that not enough? Perhaps not.
Simply, the death penalty should be abolished. Before then, clemency should be granted whenever and wherever possible. I do criticize Schwarzenegger for not granting clemency in this case, but it is surely unjust to grant clemency selectively.
But, then, the death penalty is also unjust. What would be more unjust -- selective clemency or taking Williams's life? Surely the latter.
This is yet one more death at the hands of the state. A death that could have been prevented. I realize that justice often means fairness, but that should have been the ultimate consideration.
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John Cole has a good take at Balloon Juice, including the text of Schwarzenegger's response.
I am opposed to the death penalty in all cases and I am tempted to criticize Schwarzenegger for refusing to do what seems to be the right thing.
Yet I must agree with Ann Althouse on this, at least in part: "Personally, I'm opposed to the death penalty, but I can't understand why this person deserves it less than others who don't get clemency. Fame shouldn't be enough. Having famous supporters shouldn't be enough."
Does Williams deserve clemency more than others? Well, he seems to have reformed himself in prison. Is that not enough? Perhaps not.
Simply, the death penalty should be abolished. Before then, clemency should be granted whenever and wherever possible. I do criticize Schwarzenegger for not granting clemency in this case, but it is surely unjust to grant clemency selectively.
But, then, the death penalty is also unjust. What would be more unjust -- selective clemency or taking Williams's life? Surely the latter.
This is yet one more death at the hands of the state. A death that could have been prevented. I realize that justice often means fairness, but that should have been the ultimate consideration.
**********
John Cole has a good take at Balloon Juice, including the text of Schwarzenegger's response.
posted by Michael J.W. Stickings at
5:43 PM
3 Comments:
"Yet I must agree with Ann Althouse on this, at least in part: 'Personally, I'm opposed to the death penalty, but I can't understand why this person deserves it less than others who don't get clemency. Fame shouldn't be enough. Having famous supporters shouldn't be enough.'"
Absolutely correct. While we may oppose the death penalty, granting clemency due to "star power" hardly seems like a just thing to do.
By
Frank, at 12:38 PM
You say that it is unjust to grant pardons selectively. Yet I would have thought that clemency is by definition selective. If you grant clemency to everyone, then what you are looking at is something more like an amnesty.
The Constitution of California implies the selective nature of "reprieve, pardon, and commutation" in Article 5 Section 8. There are application procedures, presumably in which the person asking for pardon sets out the reasons why he thinks he deserves it. The fact that the Governor must then report to the legislature the reasons for granting the pardon suggests that the use of this power is for exceptional cases, i.e. selectively chosen.
I agree with you that the death penalty ought to be abolished. One of the reasons why the death penalty is so cruel is that it denies people the chance to repent, to start afresh, to become "reformed". This is a particularly important case because there is ample evidence that Williams really did turn a corner (by writing children's books and speaking out against gang violence). Yet Schwarzenegger refused to pardon him, on the grounds that he refused to apologize for murders he in any case denied having committed. The fact that pardon was refused is tragic but it is the governor's right to grant or withold it. The problem is not that selective pardon is wrong, but that that the death penalty itself is wrong, and leaving the final judgement to an elected politician - or indeed to any person - is truly a perversion of natural justice.
By
Anonymous, at 3:17 PM
Why is the death penalty unjust? The man took innocent life, now he loses his life. Seems like the very concept of justice to me.
Great blog, by the way.
By
Jack Davis, at 12:50 AM
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