13 December 2005

Resting in peace...

The state killed Tookie Williams at 0h35 this morning. I don't know enough about the case to be sure how I feel about it. I am against the death penalty. I am against locking someone in a cage for the extent of their life with no purpose.

What I would like to see, instead of the "retributive" justice we have in this country, is a true system of restorative justice. Let Tookie spend his life working in the community of the people he killed. Let him be a spokesman against gang violence, against hate between blacks and Asians. Let him work his ass off for the rest of his life for the families of the people he killed.

I understand the human desire for retribution... if someone killed a person I love, I would want to kill them with my own hands. And I'm a pacifist! But having the desire for retribution doesn't make it right. It doesn't make it smart policy. And it doesn't do anything to save future victims of violence.

RIP Stanley Williams.

RIP Albert Owens.

RIP Yang Yen-i.

RIP Yang Tsai-Shai Chen.

RIP Yang Lin Yu-Chin.

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