Not in Our Names--the People's Request for Clemency

On November 23, 2008, the Coalition filed a formal request to either commute Darold Stenson's death sentence to life in prison or to issue a stay of execution and commission a study of Washington's death penalty system. We filed this request on behalf of all of the citizens of this state who do not want Mr. Stenson executed in our names. We did so, in part, because Mr. Stenson does not intend to seek clemency for himself and because it is our right and duty to speak out.

Here is a brief excerpt:

It is a new day in America and in the State of Washington. It is a day full of promise and hope. However, we are about to begin this new day with a very old ritual. We are about to begin this new day by killing a fellow human being—an act taken by our government in the names of all its citizens. We are about to begin this new day with the contradictory ritual of taking a life to prove that taking a life is wrong.
The signer of this petition, and those who write separately in support, are citizens of this state. Darold Stenson is about to be executed in our names. In the great and enduring spirit of democracy, we object. We do not consent to the execution of Darold Stenson in our names.
If the promise made by government to its citizens is that the death penalty is reserved for the worst of the worst, then this execution makes no sense. While Mr. Stenson was convicted of two senseless and tragic killings, these murders are clearly not the most deserving of death, especially when compared to the numerous murders committed over last decade. And, neither is Mr. Stenson.
Mr. Stenson’s imminent execution may prove that death sentences in this state are carried out for those with the worst attorney (Mr. Stenson’s trial lawyer stated he could not stand the “sight” of Mr. Stenson, but was nevertheless permitted to control the defense of Mr. Stenson’s life). However, that distinction is not supposed to exist.
Instead, Mr. Stenson’s imminent execution reveals the arbitrary nature of Washington’s death penalty as it exists in practice. No one could possibly explain to Mr. Stenson why he is deserving of death when Gary Ridgway, Benjamin Ng and Kwan Fai (“Willie”) Mak were not. The only possible explanation is one that condemns the death penalty: that the death penalty is as random as being struck by lightning.
Let us begin this new day by affirming life, not death. We ask you to commute Darold Stenson’s death sentence to life in prison without parole. If you are unsure about what action to take, we urge you to stay Mr. Stenson’s execution and commission a study of Washington’s death penalty law.
We urge you to begin this new day, not with an old relic of our less civilized past, but with a call to a higher sense of justice.
In this state, we recognize that the moral arc of the universe is long, but that it bends toward justice, as Marlin Luther King taught us.
The victims of the violence are black and white, rich and poor, young and old, famous and unknown. They are, most important of all, human beings whom other human beings loved and needed. No one – no matter where he lives or what he does – can be certain who will suffer next from some senseless act of bloodshed. It is imperative that we remember and honor their lives.
However, we do not honor the victims of violence so by arbitrarily executing someone once every five or ten years. Just as importantly, we do not progress as a society by killing to prove killing is wrong. We do not look upon Darold Stenson as alien, someone unknown to us or who must be removed from the family of men and women. We look upon him as a brother—someone who must be punished, as part of the social compact.
However, we seek a higher justice within that social compact. We seek to honor humanity by seeking solutions, rather than more suffering, bloodshed, and loss. Our lives on this planet are too short and our work too great to let stand the distinctions that serve only to degrade and divide us. We urge you to stop Darold Stenson’s execution.
Either commuting Darold Stenson’s death sentence to life without parole or undertaking a comprehensive review at this late date does not undermine the rule of law. Instead, it honors the genius that underpins the separation of powers and our American system of justice.