Notes From D.R. | Random Thoughts on the Passing Scene

Would Tookie Williams be alive today if Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate Deval Patrick had his way?

Two decades ago, when Patrick was a young lawyer for the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, he worked to spring punks from death row. Today he still holds fast to anti-death penalty doctrine, claiming that capital punishment "cannot be made to work."

So one can reasonably assume he’d have no problem allowing thugs like Tookie Williams to live–even after he shot five people to death, in cold blood, for petty cash, and used racial slurs to describe some of his victims.

In Patrick’s world, a menace to society like Williams would still be allowed to beat up guards and write silly children’s books while avoiding the only appropriate punishment for the heinous crimes he committed.

Patrick’s idealistic view of criminals may earn him plaudits from the "Beautiful People," but it’s hard to envision average Bay Staters embracing his vision of the world. While efforts to restore capital punishment in this state have run into numerous setbacks, there are still many voters who would like to see the death penalty reborn here.

They’ll obviously take a dim view of Patrick’s stance. Patrick claims the death penalty "can never be made foolproof," and in fairness, he’s right to be concerned about the possibility of an innocent person being executed. However, it’s illogical to avoid all executions simply because one is concerned about erroneously putting an innocent person to death.

Patrick proudly stands for this sort of non-logic, which is why this state’s lefty elite is foursquare behind him. However, if he gets the Democratic nomination, all the hosannas from the cocktail crowd won’t be loud enough to drown out the questions from average Bay Staters, who’ll want to know why Patrick is so pro-life when it comes to killers.

UPDATE: Jeff Jacoby on the necessity of capital punishment.

SECOND UPDATE: Patrick says there will not be a death penalty in Massachusetts if he’s elected governor.