Monday, December 12, 2005

Clemency denial -- Gov. Schwarzenegger's decision in full

Read the whole discussion of why Gov. Schwarzenegger denied Tookie Williams' petition for clemency.

Here is the distillation: (1) Williams is a four-time murderer; (2) the evidence of his guilt is clear; (3) the alleged problems of his trial have withstood judicial challenges at least eight times on both factual and legal grounds; (4) he has never stopped claiming his innocence therefore he cannot show remorse; (5) he cannot demonstrate efforts to curtail gang violence because he does not seek atonement for the death and destruction caused by the Crips and similar gangs who followed his lifestyle; (6) he dedicated his memoir "Life in Prison" to infamous prison rioter George Jackson, thereby casting doubt on whether Williams no longer sees lawlessness and extreme violence as legitimate expressions of societal viewpoints.

A well-stated denial by the Governor.

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