Celebs bid to save killer's life
2005-12-01 10:14
San Francisco - Actor Jamie Foxx and rapper Snoop Dogg will read to school students on Wednesday as part of "a day of action" urging California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to spare the life of a condemned prisoner, organisers said.
Foxx and Dogg, born Calvin Broadus, will be among those taking turns reading from books authored by inmate Stanley "Tookie" Williams, a convicted killer whose execution is set for December 13.
The Los Angeles read-in will be among anti-execution events taking place in more than a dozen California cities.
Foxx portrayed Williams in a television movie Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story.
"The only birthday present I want from the governor is clemency for Stan 'Tookie' Williams," Foxx said.
Williams is to die by lethal injection in San Quentin Prison on San Francisco Bay on Foxx's birthday.
"Tookie Williams is a special guy," Dogg said.
"He's a guy that's been locked up for a long time, and he's been doing a lot of great things with kids in the community with peace, with just trying to educate the kids in what it is about gang banging that ain't cool."
'Killing Williams is killing hope'
The action for Williams, a convicted killer and legendary founder of the Los Angeles Crips gang, comes with a growing roster of supporters that includes movie stars, Nobel laureates and political figures.
Among those who signed a letter asking Schwarzenegger to grant clemency to Williams were Nobel laureates Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Mairead Corrigan Maguire, Betty Williams, and Jody Williams.
Actors Jason Alexander, Laurence Fishburne, Danny Glover, Anjelica Huston, Tim Robbins, and Susan Sarandon also signed the letter, as did singer Bonnie Raitt, supporters of Williams said.
Williams' supporters cite his transformation into an anti-gang advocate who sends his message to inner city youth through children's books and other avenues.
"You kill that voice and you're killing a lot of hope for these kids," Dogg said.
Foxx and Dogg have released a rap song dedicated to the Death Row inmate.
One of the demonstrations to be held on Wednesday will be outside Schwarzenegger's office in Los Angeles, said organiser LaNiece Jones.
Schwarzenegger has agreed to hold a private clemency hearing for Williams on December 8.
A will to live
Williams, 51, was convicted in 1981 for the murder of four people and has been incarcerated in a small cell on the death row of San Quentin since then.
He has renounced his gang past, penned children's books and worked to stem gangland violence. He has maintained his innocence in the killings.
"I want to live," Williams said in a MSNBC television interview broadcast on Tuesday. "Optimism is something that I believe is hard to come by by any black who experiences injustice, so it's very difficult."
He added the decision by Schwarzenegger to hear his plea for clemency was encouraging and insists on his innocence.
While lawyers for Williams argue he deserves clemency because of his work as an anti-gang activist, prosecutors say he should die, saying Williams is asking for mercy that he never gave his victims.
Appeals courts, including the Supreme Court, have turned down requests for reconsideration of Williams' case. His last hope is for the California governor to commute his sentence to life behind bars.
However, no California governor has granted a condemned prisoner clemency since 1967 and conservative and law and order lobbies have called for Williams' execution to go ahead as scheduled.