Post by Anja Nieser on Oct 1, 2006 6:26:35 GMT -5
Death penalty opponents speak out----Symposium includes Unabomber's
brother
They all came out against the death penalty during a symposium Thursday
evening in Pratt-Willert Community Center: John H. Walker Jr. of Buffalo,
whose murder conviction was overturned after he served more than 20 years
in prison.
Gary Beeman of Niagara Falls, the only person ever sentenced to death but
exonerated after a second trial in which he acted as his own attorney.
David Kaczynski of Schenectady, who turned in his older brother, Ted, as
the Unabomber serial killer who is now serving life in prison.
William Babbitt of Elk Grove, Calif., who turned in his schizophrenic
brother only to have authorities execute him for murder in 1999 after
promising to "get him the help he needs."
"When your loved ones come back from the war in Afghanistan or Iraq, make
sure they're whole, and show them love, and take them to a psychiatrist if
they need help," Babbitt told 100 listeners.
His younger brother, Manny, spent three years in the notorious Bridgewater
State Mental Hospital in Massachusetts after serving two tours in Vietnam,
where he was wounded and received the Purple Heart. He then lost his wife
and children because of "his demons from Vietnam" and became homeless,
Babbitt said.
"Where were they when my brother needed the government's help to heal his
mind?" he asked. "He came to live with me in Sacramento in September 1980.
Something was wrong with my brother. He was always talking about the war."
One day Babbitt found his empty piggy bank filled with nickels. He also
found a cigarette lighter bearing the initials of a woman who had been
murdered after winning at the slot machines in Reno, Nev.
"Should I have given him a bus ticket?" Babbitt asked. "That woman's blood
would be on my hands. What if he'd gone to Buffalo? Maybe if he struck
again, it would be your grandmother."
Babbitt said his brother forgave him for turning him in and, before his
execution at San Quentin Prison, said: "Billy, I want you to forgive the
people who want me dead. Don't go along with hate and anger. I want you to
take the high road."
David Kaczynski heard about the case and flew to California to plead for
Manny Babbitt's life. Since then, Kaczynski - executive director of New
Yorkers Against the Death Penalty - and Babbitt - a board member of Murder
Victims' Families for Human Rights - have been traveling and speaking
together.
"In Schenectady," Kaczynski said, "we read about all the murders taking
place in Buffalo. Some politicians say the solution is the death penalty.
That's not the solution. It's community. It's a sense of responsibility
for yourself, your family and others. It's true justice for families on
both sides of these tragedies."
L. Nathan Hare, executive director of the Community Action Organization of
Erie County, was the moderator. Sponsors were the CAO, the Buffalo Local
Action Committee, Prisoners Are People Too and New Yorkers Against the
Death Penalty.
(source: Buffalo News)
brother
They all came out against the death penalty during a symposium Thursday
evening in Pratt-Willert Community Center: John H. Walker Jr. of Buffalo,
whose murder conviction was overturned after he served more than 20 years
in prison.
Gary Beeman of Niagara Falls, the only person ever sentenced to death but
exonerated after a second trial in which he acted as his own attorney.
David Kaczynski of Schenectady, who turned in his older brother, Ted, as
the Unabomber serial killer who is now serving life in prison.
William Babbitt of Elk Grove, Calif., who turned in his schizophrenic
brother only to have authorities execute him for murder in 1999 after
promising to "get him the help he needs."
"When your loved ones come back from the war in Afghanistan or Iraq, make
sure they're whole, and show them love, and take them to a psychiatrist if
they need help," Babbitt told 100 listeners.
His younger brother, Manny, spent three years in the notorious Bridgewater
State Mental Hospital in Massachusetts after serving two tours in Vietnam,
where he was wounded and received the Purple Heart. He then lost his wife
and children because of "his demons from Vietnam" and became homeless,
Babbitt said.
"Where were they when my brother needed the government's help to heal his
mind?" he asked. "He came to live with me in Sacramento in September 1980.
Something was wrong with my brother. He was always talking about the war."
One day Babbitt found his empty piggy bank filled with nickels. He also
found a cigarette lighter bearing the initials of a woman who had been
murdered after winning at the slot machines in Reno, Nev.
"Should I have given him a bus ticket?" Babbitt asked. "That woman's blood
would be on my hands. What if he'd gone to Buffalo? Maybe if he struck
again, it would be your grandmother."
Babbitt said his brother forgave him for turning him in and, before his
execution at San Quentin Prison, said: "Billy, I want you to forgive the
people who want me dead. Don't go along with hate and anger. I want you to
take the high road."
David Kaczynski heard about the case and flew to California to plead for
Manny Babbitt's life. Since then, Kaczynski - executive director of New
Yorkers Against the Death Penalty - and Babbitt - a board member of Murder
Victims' Families for Human Rights - have been traveling and speaking
together.
"In Schenectady," Kaczynski said, "we read about all the murders taking
place in Buffalo. Some politicians say the solution is the death penalty.
That's not the solution. It's community. It's a sense of responsibility
for yourself, your family and others. It's true justice for families on
both sides of these tragedies."
L. Nathan Hare, executive director of the Community Action Organization of
Erie County, was the moderator. Sponsors were the CAO, the Buffalo Local
Action Committee, Prisoners Are People Too and New Yorkers Against the
Death Penalty.
(source: Buffalo News)