paper for criminal justice class

1. Announcements
Content Week 7: Incarceration Trends
Posted on: Tuesday, April 28, 2015 10:53:50 AM EDT
Welcome to Week #7...only two weeks remaining in the class. The Spring (although it has
definitely felt more like Winter these past few days) term is quickly coming to an end and May is
right around the corner. It's amazing to me how quickly time moves by.
Let's see what's going on in Week #7...
In this week's lesson, we will look at issues and trends in prison populations. We will also look
at race and punishment in corrections. Finally, we will spend some time on Capital Punishment
and the Death Penalty.
In an effort to better understand these topics, you will complete the following activities and
assessments Read chapters 13-15 of the textbook and view their corresponding PPT
presentations; View the video titled Changes in Corrections;
View the Lecture Note for Week #7 Click on the link to the article on Stanley Williams and read
the article on his biography; Submit the Final Draft of your Group Project. I have heard from
several students that this was their first experience with an online group assignment. I hope you
have found it to be an interesting, challenging, and effective opportunity for learning. I have
observed some excellent examples of group engagement, discussion, sharing, supporting, and
caring for and from many of the groups. That is what this assignment is about...developing
relationships and promoting collaboration. Effective teamwork results from developing
relationships, knowing your role on the team, and being responsible for fulfilling your duty.

2. Unfortunately, there were some groups where little to no collaboration took place. A few groups
between my three classes were left in the lurch by a group member or two. In these cases, the
project still had to get done. This is precisely why this assignment was not designed to be overly
challenging.
Grades have been entered for rough drafts and everyone received project feedback. You are all
off to a successful start and I look forward to reviewing your final submission.
I also look forward to reading Mini Paper #2. I will start reading them over the next day or two,
so keep an eye on the Gradecenter for updated grades and feedback. If you had submitted an
assignment late, do not worry. I have seen the submission. I just haven't had the opportunity to
get it graded. I will get those updated when I can.
Our End-of-Course Student Surveys are open. You can access the survey through your Bb
Homepage. I would appreciate you taking the few minutes to share your thoughts on the course,
the assignments, and your facilitator (me). I thank you in advance for your feedback.
We are coming into our home stretch...only 2 weeks remaining. Be sure to finish strong and
continue to pray for each other.
As always, I am available for questions, comments, or concerns.

3. Yours In Christ,
Robert Roth
Textbook Readings
Seiter: chs. 13–15
Case Study 3 – The Death Penalty
Read the Stanley Tookie Williams biography that is located in the Reading & Study folder. For
this discussion, analyze both the life of Williams and your thoughts regarding the death penalty.
Then discuss whether or not you agree with the execution of Williams.
Submit your thread by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Friday and submit your replies by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on
Monday.
Website: Stanley Tookie Williams
Stanley Tookie Williams Biography
Murderer, Thief, Philanthropist (1953–2005)
Stanley Tookie Williams
OCCUPATION

4. Murderer, Thief, Philanthropist
BIRTH DATE
December 29, 1953
DEATH DATE
December 13, 2005
PLACE OF BIRTH
New Orleans, Louisiana
PLACE OF DEATH
San Quentin, California
EXECUTION
CITE THIS PAGE
Stanley Tookie Williams is best known for founding the Crips gang.
“I've become a man of peace. My redemption keeps me strong.”
—Stanley Tookie Williams
Synopsis-Stanley Tookie Williams was born December 29, 1953 in New Orleans, Louisiana. At
a young age Williams moved to Los Angeles and immediately became immersed in the street
life. Williams and a friend created the "Crips" gang and would eventually be arrested and
convicted of murder associated with the gang's activity. He was executed by the state of
California on December 13, 2005.

5. Early Life-Crips founder- Born Stanley "Tookie" Williams III on December 29, 1953, in New
Orleans, Louisiana. Williams' mother, who was only 17 at the time of his birth, was left to care
for Williams alone after his father abandoned the family. In 1959, Williams and his mother left
New Orleans and headed to Los Angeles, California, by Greyhound bus in the hopes of
achieving a better way of life. Williams later recalled the affluent-looking South Central
neighborhood where they rented their first apartment as "a shiny red apple rotting away at the
core."
Finding the street "more interesting than being at home," Williams began wandering the
neighborhood at age six. As the new kid on the block, Williams had to quickly learn how to
defend himself from neighborhood bullies, and was often thrown into the middle of physical
conflicts. "As a member of the black male species living in the ghetto microcosm, circumstances
dictated that I be either prey or predator," Williams later said about his adolescence. "It didn't
require deep reflection to determine which of the two I preferred."
Immersed in a culture of violence and drugs and without a strict parental influence, Williams
grew up idolizing criminals and "mimicking pimps and drug dealers." During his early teens,
Williams was paid a few dollars to water, feed and patch up dogs that had been mauled in illegal
dogfights. Later, these dogs would be shot or beaten to death by the gamblers and hustlers in his
neighborhood. The betting progressed to fights between young boys, and Williams was paid to
box other young boys to unconsciousness. The experiences hardened Williams, who kept the
horrors he saw—and performed—from his mother.
The Crips-Williams rarely attended school, believing that he was destined to be "dys-
educated"—a term he coined to describe the impaired and diseased knowledge he received in
school and on the streets. Instead, he was convinced he could do better in the streets, and earned

6. his reputation with his fists. Through fighting he made several friends, with whom he frequently
stole and made quick money as a bootblack. One of these new friends was Raymond
Washington, who Williams met in 1969.
The two boys formed an alliance that became known as the "Crips," a group they initially
founded in order to protect their neighborhood from other, larger gangs. The original Crips
consisted of approximately 30 members, but they soon divided into the Westside and Eastside
Crips. By 1979 the Crips had evolved into a statewide organization, and Williams and
Washington lost control of the group.
This division led ultimately to both Williams' and Washington's downfalls. In 1979, Washington
was shot and killed in a shooting in Los Angeles. His murder was blamed on the Hoover faction
if the Crips, which led to a war between the Hoover and other Crip factions. No one was ever
arrested for his murder, but theories state that Washington knew his killer well.
Gang Violence-That same year, Williams and three fellow gang members, under the influence of
PCP-laced cigarettes, drove to a convenience store with the intention of robbing the clerk.
According to later police reports, 26-year-old store clerk Albert Owens was walked into a back
room by Williams while the other members of the gang took money from the register. Williams
then shot out the security monitor in the back room and killed Owens with two execution-style
shots to the back. The group made $120 from the transaction. Williams later denied killing
Owens. On March 11 of that same year, prosecutors say Williams broke into the office of the
Brookhaven Motel in Los Angeles. Once inside, he allegedly killed three members of the
Taiwanese family who owned and operated the motel. A ballistics expert linked the shotgun shell

7. at the motel to Williams' gun, and several gang members testified that Williams had bragged
about the crime. Williams denied this shooting as well, claiming that he was framed by other
Crips members.
Imprisonment and Rehabilitation-In 1981, Williams was tried and convicted in Los Angeles
Superior Court of all four murders plus two counts of robbery, and was sentenced to death. On
April 20 of that year, he was sent to San Quentin to sit on death row. Williams did not adjust
well to prison life, and by the mid 80s he was given a six and a half year stay in solitary
confinement for multiple assaults on guards and fellow inmates.
After two years in solitary, Williams started to examine his life choices and repented for his past
actions. He attributed his transformation to God, and began speaking out against gang violence.
He filed for a federal appeal in 1988, and told court officials he was a changed man, but his
appeal was denied. In 1994, he was released from solitary. With his new mindset, he began
writing a book and in 1996, with the help of co-author Barbara Cottman Becnel, he published the
first of eight Tookie Speaks Out Against Gang Violence anti-gang books aimed at children. The
next year, Williams wrote an apology for his role in creating the Crips. " I am no longer part of
the problem. Thanks to the Almighty, I am no longer sleepwalking through life," he wrote. He
also wrote the book Life in Prison, a short non-fiction work explaining the horrors of jail.
Anti-Violence Work-In 2002 Mario Fehr, a member of the Swiss Parliament, nominated
Williams for the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition for his work against gang violence. Although
he did not win the award, many supporters spoke out in favor of the former gang member's
transformation into social reformer. He would be nominated for the honor six times in total. That

8. same year, Williams appealed again for a commuted death sentence. The appeals panel urged the
judge to consider commuting Williams' death sentence to life behind bars, citing the former gang
member's efforts toward anti-gang education. The appeal failed once again.
In 2004, Williams helped create the Tookie Protocol For Peace, a peace agreement for one of the
deadliest and most infamous gang wars in the country between the Crips and their rival, the
Bloods. Williams received a letter from President George W. Bush commending him for his
actions. That same year, his book Blue Rage, Black Redemption: A Memoir (2004) was
published. The book was written with the intention to warn kids away from following Williams'
life of crime. His story was also turned into a TV movie, Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams
Story (2004), starring Jamie Foxx.
Execution-With his death sentence close at hand, Williams petitioned again for clemency in
2005. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger met with Williams to help decide whether
the sentence should be commuted to life in prison. Williams' defenders and prosecutors each had
30 minutes to plead their case to the governor. After the meeting, Schwarzenegger denied
Williams bid for clemency, citing the forensic evidence linking him to the killings in 1979.
Despite protests from the NAACP and various supporters who turned out to fight the decision,
Williams was executed by lethal injection on December 13, 2005, at San Quentin State Prison.
References
Stanley Tookie Williams (2015) The Biography.com website. Retrieved 01:43, Apr 29, 2015,
from http://www.biography.com/people/stanley-tookie-williams-476676