Tookie Williams- Life or Death?
By: Dr. Mel Glazer
What a sad story. Stanley “Tookie” Williams is scheduled to be executed Tuesday Dec. 13 for the 1979 slayings of four people in two separate robberies. California’s Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court both have rejected bids to overturn his conviction. His last hope lies with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. If clemency is granted, Williams’ death sentence would be commuted to life in prison without parole.
His fight for clemency is a battle between his polar opposite legacies: the co-founder of the notorious Crips gang versus the Nobel Prize-nominated children’s book author who warns against the dangers of gang life. The question is: Which Tookie would be executed?
Tookie the Murderer who has brutally taken the lives of innocents, or Tookie the Penitent, who has counseled hundreds of gang members to rebuild their lives? If we could only execute one Tookie, we would execute Tookie the Murderer, but we do not have that choice. We execute them both, and thereby lies our dilemma. He has taken lives, and he has saved lives.
Perhaps a familiar Bible story can help us with this, the story of Adam and Eve’s sons, Cain and Abel: After Cain kills Abel, God forgives Cain, and although God sends him out to wander, God protects him. In letting Cain live, it was as if God had said to him, “I have seen what you can destroy, now let’s see what you can create.” Cain’s descendents became the “fathers” of cities, arts, and sciences. Since they became essentially the “fathers” of civilization, we see that plenty of good came out of God’s decision to forgive Cain.
So, what should be done with Tookie? Should the Bible be our guide? Should the court? Should public opinion? Is this a reason to eliminate the death penalty? So many questions, so few answers.
After spending over thirty years as a Rabbi and Grief Specialist, Dr. Mel Glazer (http://yourgriefmatters.com) is a recognized expert in the areas of grief, loss and hope. He is widely published, and his upcoming book, And God Created Hope, follows in the footsteps of Elizabeth Kubler-Ross in helping grievers journey “from mourning to morning.” He has lectured nationally to religious organizations, philanthropic groups and public and private schools to convey to them the importance of accepting the reality of death and loss.