Debating death row

Convicted killer and former gang member Stanley "Tookie" Williams is scheduled to die by lethal injection Dec. 13. Many are calling for clemency because of the direction Williams' life has taken since he was put behind bars. He has become an anti-gang crusader and has helped craft treatises between gangs. He also maintains his innocence. His story raises this question: At what, if any, point does someone earn redemption and forgiveness for past sins?

It is a gruesome irony that our holiday season this year will coincide with the execution of the 1,000th person since the Supreme Court legalized the death penalty 30 years ago.

Claims of innocence, religious conversion and good works done while in prison are relevant in parole hearings, but I do not think they are crucial to the capital punishment controversy.

People tend to be convinced that either it is just for prisoners to be executed if they murder someone, or it is simply wrong based on religious and humanitarian principles. My support for Stanley Tookie Williams' petition for clemency is based on the latter.

In Zen, we view wrongdoing as stemming from ignorance of who we truly are. The Zen Buddhist precepts are not taken literally, but they call for careful awareness about not killing or doing harm. It is our nature to try to do our best, to fall short and cause suffering, to feel sorry for it and to recommit to doing better.

In Zen we steer clear of words like "redemption" and "sin." To atone -- to be "at one" -- is accomplished by responding fully to the needs of the present moment.

We cannot claim to have a humane and decent society while we put people to death, however horrible their crimes. Many nations have abolished capital punishment. In the U.S., 12 states, including my home state of Iowa, have abolished the death penalty. Williams is one of California's 648 death-row inmates. There have been 11 executions here since 1976 and one in 2005.

A life sentence without possibility of parole is one alternative that would be most likely to receive widespread support.

The reasons for support of capital punishment bear reexamination. In recent years the public has become aware that the death penalty system is not fail-safe. Since 1973, more than 120 people have been released from death row because of evidence proving their innocence.

It is also beyond doubt that race and poverty are factors that unjustly influence whether a defendant will receive the death penalty.