Williams execution prompts calls for moratorium, defense of all life

Published: 2005-12-13

SAN FRANCISCO (CNS) -- Church leaders in California, Washington and Rome were among those urging California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to commute the death sentence of Stanley "Tookie" Williams and asking Californians to call for a moratorium on executions. But Williams, 51, was killed by lethal injection about 12:35 a.m. Dec. 13 at San Quentin State Prison. Williams had been convicted for the 1979 murders of a 7-Eleven clerk in Whittier and three members of a family who owned a Los Angeles motel. In a statement, Auxiliary Bishop John C. Wester of San Francisco, who is apostolic administrator of the archdiocese, asked Californians "to ponder carefully whether the use of the death penalty makes our society safer." He said "a moratorium is needed to evaluate whether the death penalty serves the common good and safeguards the dignity of human life. We are convinced that it does not." San Quentin is located within the boundaries of the San Francisco Archdiocese.

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