Posted on 12/13/2005 7:36:28 AM PST by SmithL
Sacramento -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's rejection of Stanley Tookie Williams' clemency plea Monday, after several public statements last week indicating he was wrestling with the decision, was a strongly worded rebuke that left little doubt about the governor's feelings: Williams deserved to die.
In a six-page statement, Schwarzenegger insisted Williams was guilty of the four crimes for which he was convicted and brushed aside the Crips founder's redemption as a children's book author and anti-gang crusader. The decision was not a surprise to political experts who said the governor had little to gain by sparing Williams.
Facing a rebellion among Republican supporters for his appointment two weeks ago of longtime Democrat Susan Kennedy to be his chief of staff and weakened by a special-election defeat, the governor would have added to the uproar by granting clemency.
"The only people who would have been happy with clemency were people who likely wouldn't support him anyway,'' noted Dan Schnur, a political consultant.
Legal experts said Schwarzenegger's narrow vision of clemency fits in with the modern definition governors around the country have used.
"He clearly focused on the main issue: Is this person guilty?' said Michael Rushford of the pro-death penalty Criminal Justice Legal Foundation. "Beyond that, the other issues seemed to be academic.''
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Tookie = Terminated.
/BARF
Only idiots turn this into a political issue.
The "right" looks are right and wrong
The stuck on stupid left simply sees politics and a political bashing.
Gee, ya think?
Edit required: "Would Have".
Arnold focused on the facts. Understandably, Liberals are upset.
Tookie never apologized or atoned for what he had done.
Instead he spent 20 plus years trying to game the system.
Here is the history of a mass murderer who actually repented of his crimes, and chose to atone for them.
His name was Steven Renfro.
Steven's parents separated shortly after he was born and his father lost touch with both the mother and son for about 35 years. Steven's grandmother located Steven and reconciled him with with his father.
Steven was raised by his aunt, Rose Rutledge, near Marshall, Texas. He went to high school with Rick Berry, a Harrison County district attorney who later prosecuted Steven.
On August 25, 1996, after taking what he later told authorities were 70 doses of the tranquilizer Valium along with liquor, Steven put on camouflage clothing, blackened his face and armed himself with four guns including a military assault rifle and some 500 rounds of ammunition.
He shot and killed his live-in girlfriend, Rhena Fultner, 36, then Aunt Rose Rutledge, 63, who lived with them. Then he went to a nearby trailer home of an acquaintance, George Counts, 40, against whom he had a grudge, and fatally shot him, firing more than 150 rounds into Counts' mobile home.
When police arrived, he opened fire again, wounding Marshall police officer Dominic Pondant in the shoulder and turning his patrol car "into Swiss cheese," as authorities described it. Police were out gunned by Steven's .45 and .50 caliber handguns and an AR-15 rifle, but one of his weapons malfunctioned and officer Pondant was able to hit Steven.
He was convicted the following April and ended his trail by telling jurors he should be put to death. They agreed.
He asked that no appeals be pursued. At his execution, he apologized to the family members of the victims and said a prayer.
He was executed on February 9, 1998, after spending the second shortest time on Texas' death row.
The media and Hollywood celebrities were conspicuous by their absence.
I Leaves...
Had my signs ready for the big Repulican demonstration...NOT.
To the dems, every act is politically motivated. Nothing is done from conviction, or from conscience, or from a values or moral perspective, or for humanitarian reasons, or for faith. No, every act is political. They're the saddest, most morally bereft people in the world.
Well, if it feels a little warmer than expected today, it's because Satan just threw a very large log on the fire.
I agree. No politics here. He simply did the right thing according to the law.
I'd have no problem with Arnold staying the execution now....
Arnold focused on the facts. Understandably, Liberals are upset.
----
Yes, interesting how the libs totally forgot this guy killed four people -- selective brain fade. And we have to applaud Arnie. He did it right. The criminal-loving left will just have to shed a tear for a fallen criminal hero.
Hey, they're accusing Arnold of acting like Bill and Hillary.
Granting Williams clemency would have cost Schwarzenegger even more GOP support.
It would have been an even worse disaster for what remains of the California Republican Party. Arnold would have lost virtually all Republican support, and I suspect that some would have moved for his recall. Meanwhile the radical left would have thanked him and then proceeded to work feverishly to unseat him next year.
Only a Republican would have taken this long to figure all this out. By delaying Arnold made this into an enormous political circus that has galvanized the radical left against him.
Of course the SF Chronicle would polticize it. But simply put the Tookster just needed killin'.
However, the Tookie issue was not a political one; no matter how hard the MSM, Jesse and Mikey Farrell tried to make it one.
It was purely a simple issue of applying Law and punishment, as decreed by the Courts. The system worked.
Kudos to the Governor for not being distracted by fanfare and whines. The punishment has to fit the crime.
What a bizarre headline.
I was involved in a conversation the other day about this guy and it was along the lines of "...he was the founder of The Crips, he should be terminated for that reason alone...how many tens of thousands of families have been effected by his creation of that group of murderous thugs?" I didn't know he started that gang, I hadn't heard that on the news. Hmph. He did get an extra 26 years of a room and 3 meals a day by our tax dollars now didn't he. That's certainly having the system work for you.
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