The influence of Tookie Williams isn't limited to street thugs and gang-bangers.  He's changed me and the way I think.  I've always been a supporter of capital punishment. My feeling has always been that if you take a life, you forfeit your own. I am a liberal, but I do hold some very conservative beliefs on a variety of issues. Crime and punishment has always been one of them. I've always believed that if you commit a crime, you reap the consequences. I still believe that. Law and order are essential to preserving our society. But over the last couple of years, I've seen a shifting in my belief about how we mete out punishment in this society. I look at our deeply flawed justice system and I can't help but wonder if it's not merely adding to the problems rather than alleviating them.

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