I missed this when it was announced:

Clemency next hope for kids' book writer

LOS ANGELES – A judge signed a death warrant yesterday for convicted killer Stanley "Tookie" Williams, a co-founder of the Crips street gang whose later work for peace brought him Nobel Peace Prize nominations.

Superior Court Judge William R. Pounders rejected a request by Williams' attorneys for a nine-day delay in his execution date. He's scheduled to die Dec. 13 at San Quentin prison for four murders committed in 1979.

His lawyers asked that the date be set for Dec. 22 so they would have more time to ask Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for clemency.

"This case has taken over 24 years to get to this point," Pounders said. "That is a long delay in itself and I would hate to add to that delay."

Williams, 51, was sentenced to death in 1981 for fatally shooting Albert Owens, a Whittier convenience store worker. He also was convicted of killing two Los Angeles motel owners and their daughter with a shotgun during a robbery. He has maintained his innocence.

The Dec. 13 execution date means attorneys have until Nov. 8 to submit the clemency request to the governor. The judge said Williams' lawyers could ask the governor for more time to tell him about the good work Williams has done since renouncing his gang past.

Lora Owens, Albert Owens' stepmother, said Williams doesn't deserve clemency.

"I didn't convict the man and I didn't put a death sentence on him, but I want justice for Albert to be done," Lora Owens said in a recent telephone interview.

Since being sentenced to die, Williams has written a series of children's books in his effort to curtail youth gang violence. He has been nominated five times for a Nobel Peace Prize and four times for a Nobel Prize in literature.

Dozens of death penalty opponents held a quiet demonstration outside the courtroom calling for mercy. They held a banner praising Williams' work to prevent gang violence that read, "Keeping him alive saves lives!"

One of Williams' attorneys, Peter Fleming Jr., told the judge he has never handled a death penalty case before and asked for more time to ensure that Williams' legal team could do everything possible to help him. "More than a few people have said he is worth saving," Fleming said.

And it's about as compelling as being presented with a 5 lb bag of cricket crap from Dicker & Dicker of Beverly Hills.

I spoil my cats with nummy 9-Lives food and teach my kid algebra, but if I did what he was convicted - CONVICTED - of I'd be sitting on Death Row too.

I've been hearing about this on the radio for the last few days and the main *cough* argument is that by sparing his life that other kids that are in gangs will be motivated to make a drastic life change for the better.

I don't think so Tim.

If clemency is granted, it'll just show those 'impressionable youths' that you can murder people in cold blood and not have to face a death sentence.

Hell - I say take this sucker out on Pay-Per-View television. Record the sentence being carried out and play it on big monitors at school functions to show what crime really gets you these days.

So long 'Tookie' - hope you like having pineapples shoved up your ass on a daily basis by Satan himself.