Let me get my political on for a minute, if you will...
Making headlines the last few weeks has been the clemency appeal for former Crip, Stanley 'Tookie' Williams who is due to be sentenced to death by lethal injection on Dec 13.
At one time one of LA's most notorious gang-bangers and the man co-credited with founding the Crips back in 1971, Tookie was sentenced to the death penalty in 1981 after he was found guilty of murdering four people.
I don't know if you saw the movie 'Redemption', but the film depicted Tookie's life-changing turnaround while serving two years in solitary confinement. Upon leaving SC, he set about trying to undo the errors of his former life by writing a series of children’s book aimed at 'at-risk’ kids who live in the heart of gang territory. Kids all over the world have read the Nobel Peace Prize nominated series. As well as writing Tookie was also responsible for negotiating Bloods and Crips peace talks and has devoted his life to stopping senseless killings.
The death penalty is utterly barbaric and totally out-dated in these times. When it finally gets abolished I think people will be amazed America have gotten away with it for so long. This is the country, after all, that 'rescued' Iraq from the ‘violent, evil regimes’ of its leaders. The same, who along with Britain, might actually consider torture methods to retrieve information about terrorism acts from suspected suicide bombers. This is what the death injection is all about...
Most state laws regarding capital punishment include a timeline of the events that must take place in the hours leading up to execution, including when the prisoner is to be taken to the execution chamber. Once properly dressed, the inmate is taken to the execution chamber. They either walk on their own or are restrained to and rolled in on a gurney. Inmates who walk to the execution chamber are then restrained on a gurney or table either inside the chamber or in an adjacent preparation room. The inmate is secured to the gurney or table with lined ankle and wrist restraints. A sheet may be placed over the prisoner.
After the prisoner has been restrained, two intravenous (IV) tubes are inserted by the execution team, one tube in each arm. The intravenous tubes are threaded through an opening in the wall that leads to the anteroom, where the executioner is located. Once the IV tubes are inserted, a saline solution begins flowing into them. When the IV tubes are in place, a curtain may be drawn back from the window or one-way mirror to allow witnesses to view the execution. At this time, the inmate is given a chance to make a final statement, either written or verbal. This statement is recorded and later released to the media. The prisoner's head is left unrestrained -- in states that use regular windows, this enables the inmate to turn and look at the witnesses. In states that use one-way mirrors, the witnesses are shielded from view.
Either an executioner of prison guards administers four drugs. An Anaesthetic - Sodium thiopental, which has the trademark name Pentothal, puts the inmate into a deep sleep. This drug is a barbiturate that induces general anaesthesia when administered intravenously. It can reach effective clinical concentrations in the brain within 30 seconds, according to an Amnesty International report. For surgical operations, patients are given a dose of 100 to 150 milligrams over a period of 10 to 15 seconds. For executions, as many as 5 grams (5,000 mg) of Pentothal may be administered. This in itself is a lethal dose. It's believed by some that after this anaesthetic is delivered, the inmate doesn't feel anything.
Saline solution flushes the intravenous line.
Paralyzing agent - Pancuronium bromide, also known as Pavulon, is a muscle relaxant that is given in a dose that stops breathing by paralyzing the diaphragm and lungs. Conventionally, this drug takes effect in one to three minutes after being injected. In many states, this drug is given in doses of up to 100 milligrams, a much higher dose than is used in surgical operations -- usually 40 to 100 micrograms per one kilogram of body weight. Other chemicals that can be used as a paralyzing agent include tubocurarine chloride and succinylcholine chloride.
Saline solution flushes the intravenous line.
Toxic agent (not used by all states) - Potassium chloride is given at a lethal dose in order to interrupt the electrical signalling essential to heart functions. This induces cardiac arrest.
Within a minute or two after the last drug is administered, a physician or medical technician declares the inmate dead. The amount of time between when the prisoner leaves the holding cell and when he or she is declared dead may be just 30 minutes. Death usually occurs anywhere from five to 18 minutes after the execution order is given. After the execution, the body is placed in a body bag and taken to medical examiner, who may perform an autopsy. It is then either claimed by the inmate's family or interred by the state. Apparently, they say, it doesn't hurt...Though quite what the mental torture minutes, hours, weeks and hears leading up to execution is like, who knows.
I'm not saying these people haven’t done f**ked up stuff - we're talking murders, rapists, paedophiles and all kind of horrible people. But how can you take a life? Who is given that right? How can one person say it's cool for someone to be killed and another to get murdered for killing? Lock these dudes up forever; make their existence as miserable as you like - no TV, shit food, little sunlight, whatever.
As for Tookie though, surely this is a no-brainer. Not only a reformed character (ok, ok, aren't they all) but this guy has done, is doing, the world great good. I fail to see what good killing Tookie will do. Here is a man actively attempting to bring about peace and end a situation he admittedly helped to create. To kill him is utter craziness.
Snoop and Jamie Foxx have luckily bought a lot of PR to the case, with Cali Governor Arnie Schwarzenegger the final hope. While the California State Court has refused to stop the scheduled execution, Arnie will consider clemency at a meeting on Dec 8 in Sacramento.
It's utterly bizarre that the man behind 'Nothing But A G Thang' and The Terminator may be the two to turn Tookies fortunes around, but regardless who manages it, lets hope it happens before Dec 13, Tookie's date with death. Check out tookie.com for more. Also, here is an open letter, a formal apology, written nearly 10 years ago....
AN APOLOGY
Twenty-five years ago when I created the Crips youth gang with Raymond Lee Washington in South Central Los Angeles, I never imagined Crips membership would one day spread throughout California, would spread to much of the rest of the nation and to cities in South Africa, where Crips copycat gangs have formed. I also didn't expect the Crips to end up ruining the lives of so many young people, especially young black men who have hurt other young black men.
Raymond was murdered in 1979. But if he were here, I believe he would be as troubled as I am by the Crips legacy.
So today I apologize to you all -- the children of America and South Africa -- who must cope every day with dangerous street gangs. I no longer participate in the so-called gangster lifestyle, and I deeply regret that I ever did.
As a contribution to the struggle to end child-on-child brutality and black-on-black brutality, I have written the Tookie Speaks Out Against Gang Violence children's book series. My goal is to reach as many young minds as possible to warn you about the perils of a gang lifestyle.
I am no longer "dys-educated" (disease educated). I am no longer part of the problem. Thanks to the Almighty, I am no longer sleepwalking through life.
I pray that one day my apology will be accepted. I also pray that your suffering, caused by gang violence, will soon come to an end as more gang members wake up and stop hurting themselves and others.
I vow to spend the rest of my life working toward solutions.
Amani (Peace),
Stanley "Tookie" Williams, Surviving Crips Co-Founder,
April 13, 1997
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