The title of this post comes from Shane Claiborne in a YouTube video about the death penalty posted seven years ago. I refer to it today, because of an execution in Missouri on Tuesday evening. Marcellus Williams died by lethal injection after spending 24 years on death row. His execution was carried out despite doubts about his guilt, tainted DNA evidence, paid testimony against him, and questions about excluding Black jurors. There were calls by the current St. Louis County prosecutor, the victim’s husband, and millions of people around the nation and world to commute his death sentence. Why would the state press forward with this ultimate penalty without ultimately clear and convincing evidence? The Innocence Project took on Marcellus Williams’ case convinced that he was innocent of the crime for which he imprisoned. Here is a portion of their statement following the execution:
Mr. Williams’ story echoes that of too many others caught in our country’s broken criminal legal system. A Black man convicted of killing a white woman, Mr. Williams maintained his innocence until the very end. His conviction was based on the testimony of two eyewitnesses who were paid for their testimony. No DNA evidence linked him to the crime. And the current St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney acknowledged that errors made by the trial prosecutors – including mishandling the murder weapon and intentionally excluding Black prospective jurors in violation of the Constitution – contributed to a wrongful conviction.
The first video posted below comes from a CNN report on the night of his execution.
As it exists in our nation today, the death penalty is neither fair nor impartial. Capital punishment is legal in only about half the states of our nation. According to the Equal Justice Initiative’s website, over 200 people have been exonerated and released from death row since 1973. This represents the astounding fact that for every eight persons executed in that timeframe, one person was found innocent and exonerated. Because most people on death row lacked sufficient legal counsel, it is certain that some innocent people have been executed. This is unacceptable for a nation whose Supreme Court building bears the inscription “Equal Justice Under Law.”
In this time of grief and shock over the unjust death of Marcellus Williams, we also need to remember and work for the fact that change is possible. My state of Virginia was a leader in capital punishment for 400 years. The first execution happened in the colony of Jamestown in 1608. Up until the last decade, Virginia ranked in the top three states for executions. Yet finally on July 1, 2021 the law abolishing the death penalty went into effect. Men and women of faith advocated for decades to make this possible. The second video posted below highlights the story of the death penalty in Virginia.
In the third video posted below, Shane Claiborne calls us to continue to work until this form of unjust state sanctioned violence is abolished in every state and at the federal level.