I don't carry water for Tookie Williams. I'm not as familiar with his story as some, but I oppose the death penalty firmly and unequivocally. (If you feel a need to criticize me for being insensitive to the survivors of murder victims, please read this first. You might also want to check this out.) 97% of the executions that were recorded by Amnesty International took place in China, Vietnam, Iran and the United States. What lovely company we are keeping.
The death penalty has nothing to do with justice and everything to do with vengeance. There are some memorable cases such as Williams or Karla Faye Tucker, but the one that resonates the most with me is that of Wilbert Evans.
Evans was on death row in Virginia precisely because, as Justice Marshall noted in his compelling dissent to the denial of Evans' stay of execution
At the sentencing phase, the jury's verdict was predicated on a single aggravating circumstance: that if allowed to live Evans would pose a serious threat of future danger to society. See Va. Code 19.2-264.4(C) ( 1990). Without this finding, Evans could not have been sentenced to death . See e.g., Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238, 313 , 2764 (1972) (WHITE, J., concurring) (existence of aggravating circumstance "distinguishing the few cases in which [the death penalty] is imposed" from those in which it is not is a constitutional prerequisite to death sentence); Gregg v. Georgia, supra, at 188-189 ( same).1 [498 U.S. 927 , 928] [my emphasis]
Why is this noteworthy? Let's read some more of Justice Marshall's dissent:
While Evans was on death row at the Mecklenberg Correctional Facility, an event occurred that casts grave doubt on the jury's prediction of Evans' future dangerousness. On May 31, 1984, six death row inmates at Mecklenberg attempted to engineer an escape. Armed with makeshift knives, these inmates took hostage 12 prison guards and 2 female nurses. The guards were stripped of their clothes and weapons, bound, and blindfolded. The nurses also were stripped of their clothes, and one was bound to an inmate's bed.
According to uncontested affidavits presented by guards taken hostage during the uprising, Evans took decisive steps to calm the riot, saving the lives of several hostages, and preventing the rape of one of the nurses. 2 For instance, Officer Ricardo Holmes, who was bound by the escaping inmates and forced into a closet with other hostages, states that he heard Evans imploring to the escaping inmates, " 'Don't hurt anybody and everything will be allright.' " Officer Holmes continues:
"It was very clear to me that [Evans] was trying to keep [the escaping inmates] calm and prevent them from getting out of control . . . . Based upon what I saw and heard, it is my firm opinion that if any of the escaping inmates had tried to harm us, Evans would have come to our aid. It is my belief that had it not been for Evans, I might not be here today." See Pet. for Cert., Exh. 14.
Other guards taken hostage during the uprising verify Officer Holmes' judgment that Evans protected them and the other hostages from danger. According to Officer Prince Thomas, Evans interceded to prevent the rape of Nurse Ethyl Barksdale by one of the escaping inmates. Id., Exh. 9. Officer Harold Crutchfield affirms that Evans' appeals to the escapees not to harm anyone may have meant the difference between life and death for the hostages. "It is . . . my firm belief that if Evans had not been present during the escape, things may have blown up and people [498 U.S. 927 , 929] may have been harmed." Id., Exh. 8. According to Officer Crutchfield, after the escapees had left the area in which they were holding the guards hostage, Evans tried to force open the closet door and free the guards- albeit unsuccessfully. Ibid. Officers Holmes, Thomas, and Crutchfield, and five other prison officials all attest that Evans' conduct during the May 31, 1984, uprising was consistent with his exemplary behavior during his close to 10 years on death row. Id., Exhs. 8-15.
Nevertheless, Evans was executed in 1990, having been sentenced to death for the sole reason for if being allowed to live, he would pose a threat to society, despite the testimony of prison guards who said Evans saved their lives and prevented the rape of a nurse.
Randy, this is simply the most moving thing I have read on this today.
Posted by: The Heretik | December 13, 2005 at 07:49 PM