Gang Founder Claimed Innocence Until the End [& the death penalty]

Gang Founder Claimed Innocence Until the End - Yahoo! News

I'm no fan of Tookie Williams, and have no opinion about his guilt or innocence other than he was likely guilty and certainly deserved to be in prison, if for no other reason than for founding the Crips gang. This is not about Tookie.

What bothers me is that we still have a death penalty in this country - and, worse, that my state - which represents ME - has just used it, and is about to use it again, and even soon.

The death penalty is wrong. All the modern "civilized" countries of the world don't use it, why should we?

IMHO,Tookie should have stayed in prison for the rest of his life, that is, unless his innocence had been proven. (Although, there still is that founder of the Crips thing... I can't believe Williams could have done that and, at the same time, never have been guilty of crimes deserving of extended prison time.)

Well, good news, no riots in L.A. this morning. I like Jesse Jackson, but I sure wish he hadn't stirred the kettle so much with what he was saying about Tookie last night. Jeez... The man should stop and think a little about the possible violent and destructive consequences of his shooting his mouth off like that. Throwing a match into a tinder keg - why?