Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Tookie's Life!
I had been seeing this news item for quite sometime now, in Internet discussion groups, in blogs, in news channels, and in all places that I can possibly put my eyes on. I dont know much about the case(let alone that he was a gangster long back and that he is convicted for killing 4 people). These are public knowledge, but I dont know the intricacies of the case.
I had not been a votary of death penalty. Today, when I read Metafilter's words,
Scheduled to die?.....I am shocked at this sentence. It is true!..he is "scheduled" to die..Now, how horrible can something get as this?
How would that man be feeling in his prison cell...may be when I am typing this, he is already injected with the legal injection and is on his way to permanent sleep..but to know that I am gonna die, that these are the last few moments that I would be seeing this world...these are the last few seconds, that I would be breathing, that I would have this "I"..how would it feel to feel that way?
Why can't humans be more wise? Are laws to organise men or to be ruthless? I agree Laws should have more teeth, but those teeth should be like that of a Tiger gripping it's cub, not a prey. Laws that are dragonian as that recommending Death Penalty are not only ridiculous , but are also a black mark on the civilised world.
No crime can be stopped by fear. Fear is not unsurmountable...It just takes a bit of resolution and a momentary rage to commit a crime( I am not speaking about the organised crime here...those might be for so many other reasons, which too can be logically reasoned with and remedied).
At the end of the day, Killing is not the answer for Crime and that too a legalised Killing- definitely not!!..It sucks to say that.."Legalised Killing"
I had not been a votary of death penalty. Today, when I read Metafilter's words,
Tomorrow Stan "Tookie" Williams founder of the Crips gang is scheduled to die. Many feel that Tookie has turned has life around, he's written books about his life, and has had his story made into a movie and even been nominated for the Nobel Prize Some say he deserves clemency others do not this morning Tookie was denied an appeal to the California Supreme Court and is waiting on a federal appeal. Which begs the question Should Tookie Die? [Bold to emphasis by me]
Scheduled to die?.....I am shocked at this sentence. It is true!..he is "scheduled" to die..Now, how horrible can something get as this?
How would that man be feeling in his prison cell...may be when I am typing this, he is already injected with the legal injection and is on his way to permanent sleep..but to know that I am gonna die, that these are the last few moments that I would be seeing this world...these are the last few seconds, that I would be breathing, that I would have this "I"..how would it feel to feel that way?
Why can't humans be more wise? Are laws to organise men or to be ruthless? I agree Laws should have more teeth, but those teeth should be like that of a Tiger gripping it's cub, not a prey. Laws that are dragonian as that recommending Death Penalty are not only ridiculous , but are also a black mark on the civilised world.
No crime can be stopped by fear. Fear is not unsurmountable...It just takes a bit of resolution and a momentary rage to commit a crime( I am not speaking about the organised crime here...those might be for so many other reasons, which too can be logically reasoned with and remedied).
At the end of the day, Killing is not the answer for Crime and that too a legalised Killing- definitely not!!..It sucks to say that.."Legalised Killing"
Jus been
Free Counter
Get awesome blog templates like this one from BlogSkins.com
© All that is written here are the Genuine Products of the Intellect of the author and are protected by the relevant copyright acts...If you wish to quote the highness you can do so at your own risk and at risk to the integrity of the author's cerebrum.
Disclaimer:
All that is written in this blog are the personal opinions of the author and are in no way representative of the organisation that the author has worked for or is working for or would be working for in the future.
5 Comments:
@Arun: Umm..you have a point there. So what are we left with?
Say for example,when India was fighting for Freedom, none of the extremists fighters (like Bhagat Singh etal), repented for killing the Britishers!..Did we say, he deserves to be killed?..Here, I think we are very good in bending the rules, giving exceptions. What might seem to you as a just cause, is a crime to the Britisher's Family. Did we accept that?
Thin over. Prespecives differ and that is why I am saying, Death is not the punishment!
Hey Krish,
I don't disagree with you and I have mixed feelings about death penalty but in the end,you have to know that the people whom he killed were not given a say and as a society even though u have redeemed, when you have crossed that line of killing another innocent human being,you lose your own right to live!
@motorama: I agree with you that, the killed human is not given a say - but what is the point in killing the killer, just because, the killed wasnt given a say. If he had been given a say, then will you say, the killer need not be killed?
Taking a life is not to be decided by anyone- else, why not recommend death to a lorry driver who kills scores with a single accident?
To me whatever the reasons are, death is not the solution.
I donot think I can give a general comment on "Death Penalty" or "Merciful Killing". After skimming through Tookie's biography from one of the links, I think he has contributed both good and bad to the society and doesnot deserve death especially after getting on to the right path.
@DD:Yeah DD...True...I would say, even if he hadnt done any good to society, we should not kill him. A fellow human deciding on should I live or die is barbarious and uncivilized.
Post a Comment
<< Home