the death of a Laureate

Dear Governor,

I am writing this letter to you this afternoon to voice my deepest regret. I voted for you.

I believed that you would be a great leader because you didn’t need to be. I believed that you would be the voice of the people of California without bowing to the whim of what’s popular. I voted for you because at the heart of it all, I believe in the capacity of men to govern themselves fairly and to honor our diversity and traditions, while solidly leading us toward unity.

Today you lost my vote.

I am not angry at you. I understand that you have been under a lot of pressure about what to do about Stanley “Tookie” Williams. I hoped that in your heart you would do what is right. Don’t misunderstand me; I am not an advocate of revoking the death penalty. I do not pretend to know if it is best for our society or our country. What I do know, is that it is possible for you to grant clemency to someone who deserves it. I understand that you weighed all the evidence, and that it was a hard decision for you to make. But this is why you have lost my vote: You let the good of the few outweigh the good of the many.

In the case of Mr. Williams you have decreed that a man be put to death. The death penalty was given due to the severity of the crimes that Mr. Williams was found guilty of. The families of those murdered by Mr. Williams long for revenge in the guise of justice, and I am not one to say they should not have their revenge. But in this case there is something rare and unique.

It is something that has often been on the lips of Republicans and Democrats alike. Rehabilitation. For a long time people have been debating if it is worth trying to rehabilitate prison inmates. This man, Mr. Williams, has been rehabilitated. What you failed to take into consideration when making your decision is the fact that Mr. Williams has spent the better part of the last twenty years in prison helping people. And this is the point, he has written books for children to keep them from making the same decisions in life that he made. He has contributed to society in a way that few have before him. He learned from his mistakes and used that knowledge to the betterment of society. He has been nominated multiple times for one of the world’s highest honors: the Nobel Prize for Literature.

In your decision today to deny clemency to Mr. Williams, you have shown the people of California, you have shown me, that you are not capable of doing what is in our best interest. You have made a bad decision, and it will not only cost a man his life, but it will cost the world. We are a world that needs his guidance, sorrow, experience, and wisdom, to help us understand this still constant problem of how to keep our children from making his mistakes.

The families of those who Mr. Williams murdered will be grateful for your decision today. As for the rest of us, you will not be granted clemency for this decision.

With sorrow and humility,

Shane J. Kroll