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I'm Too Old To Die
Clarence Ray Allen's options are running out, despite his novel appeal to the Supreme Court.
California's oldest death row inmate, a 75-year-old man who is legally blind and nearly deaf, is asking the US Supreme Court to do something it has never done before: block an execution because of the condemned man's advanced age and infirmity.
Clarence Ray Allen's lawyers contend that executing a feeble old man amounts to cruel and unusual punishment, which is banned by the US Constitution.
What did meek little Grandpa Clarence do to wind up in such inhuman straits?
After being sentenced to life in prison for the murder of a 17-year-old girl, he orchestrated three additional murders from behind bars. His target was a witness that helped put him in prison; two bystanding teenagers were also gunned down in the attack. In addition to the triple murder, Allen was also convicted of conspiracy to murder 8 witnesses.
This is a perfect example of the importance of capital punishment. It's not just about deterrence or justice; it's also a practical necessity. Monsters like Allen can be locked up and the keys thrown away, only to quadruple their body count while in the state's custody. If he had been sentenced to death for his first murder, three innocent people would still be alive.
The brother of Jospehine Rocha, one of the murdered bystanders (age 17 at the time), put it well:
"If we want to talk about age, let's look at the victims and their age. As he feels he's too old to die, we put it right back and say Josephine was too young to die."
Unless the Supreme Court agrees to hear the case, we'll be rid of this damnable sewage on Tuesday.
Handcrafted by Flip on January 14, 2006 |
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Comments
aint nuttin gunna save this scumbag from the needle.Posted by: stevenson | Jan 15, 2006 8:45:40 AM
I am for the most part, against the death penalty. When I heard about this man, I felt I could push his wheelchair over a cliff (with him in it) with little problem. Then I found out about his long bout with encephalitis as a child and his extreme poverty (which probably added to the severity of the condition- inadequate treatment) and I wonder if this might have affected him mentally. He claims he didn't conspire to kill the witnesses- that his son admitted lying about this (initially in order to save himself from the death penalty) and that Williams understands (the son later recanted about saying his father orchestrated the "hit")- and another involved claims he had nothing to do with these killings- but what I didn't hear from him is about his initial killing the 17-year-old which sent him to prison for life in the first place. The defense was a travesty- especially the penalty phase- some appellate judges agreed to this- but should this be of no importance if the defendent were, indeed, the "worst of the worst"? I understand the revulsion so many feel concerning this person, but a burning desire to see him "get his" harms the spirit. Now he's in such a condition that execution will be more like euthanasia. I do feel that the execution of Stan "Tookie" Williams deprived many gang youths of a "scared straight" program that he would have been more than willing to continue. What a world...Posted by: V Smith | Jan 16, 2006 3:08:34 AM
