Marcellus “Khalifa” Williams served more than twenty years on death row for the murder of Felicia Ann Gayle but always maintained his innocence, and appealed for his release on the grounds that there was no forensic evidence linking him to the crime. Last week, Williams was executed through the death penalty.
He wasn’t alone. Four other people were executed last week. Plus, since 1973, at least 200 people have been exonerated from death row in the U.S., and a 2014 study estimated that at least 4% of those sentenced to death are innocent. The Innocence Project, an organization dedicated to freeing innocent incarcerated people and preventing other wrongful convictions, joined in on the efforts to overturn Williams’ verdict on the basis of “incentivized witnesses” who may have fabricated testimony and the corruption of evidence. Further, the parents of Williams’ alleged-victim also oppose the death penalty and spoke out against the death sentence he received.
That is the reality of America’s criminal legal system. Even when the crime scene is full of DNA not belonging to the accused. Even with unreliable testimony and inconclusive evidence. Even when the victim’s family opposes the sentence and execution. Even when local community organizers build a campaign and half a million people sign a petition. Even when millions more around the country speak up on social media and call the governor demanding more time to prove his innocence. Even under all these circumstances, the state still chooses to execute. And before we’ve finished mourning, several more lives continue to be claimed.
The death penalty is wrong even if the accused is guilty, because the punishment is final and disproportionately wielded against working-class, Black, brown and/or neurodivergent people. Most are sentenced to death in their twenties and executed before the average retirement age. Further, executions don’t always go off as planned making for even more painful and torturous experiences. In January, Kenneth Eugene Smith became the first death row execution of the year. He also was the first case of execution by “nitrogen hypoxia” in the world. A witness to Smith’s Alabama execution described heaving and spitting saying, “what we saw was minutes of someone struggling for his life.” Accountability should not be such a painful spectacle. We are not safer by getting revenge on a few dozen people each year. So why do we do it? The death penalty only erodes our moral compass and makes us collectively bloodthirsty.
Accountability should not be such a painful spectacle. We are not safer by getting revenge on a few dozen people each year. So why do we do it? The death penalty only erodes our moral compass and makes us collectively bloodthirsty.
On September 24th 2024, Marcellus Williams ate his last meal of chicken wings and tater tots and wrote his final statement, “All Praise Be to Allah in Every Situation!” Each person is a universe. Williams was a son, brother, grandfather, Imam, poet, friend, and activist. While incarcerated, Williams embraced the religion of …read more
Source:: Refinery29
