There are limits to inspiration I suppose. Remember that it took Tookie 10 years of rotting in prison before he turned fully against the gang life. I'm dissapointed, but not suprised that his son may have done what is alleged. I would say that Tookie may be capable of swaying "swing voters" who are open to getting out of gangs or looking for a way out. But you can't lead a horse to water...

The specific issue here for me is weather or not Tookie, given a FAIR trial, is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. I seriously question weather a jury with 3 black people on it (who were excluded from the original trial on the basis of race, and this was UPHELD by the 9th circuit court of appeals, and by default the US Supreme Court as being VALID or OK)would have convicted Williams beyond a reasonable doubt, if all that I mentioned earlier had been brought to light by good representation. It is true that in order to overturn a conviction based on evidence of innocence it is required to show overwhelming evidence of innocence, such as a DNA sample that does not match for instance. The person interviewed in the mp3 file I mentioned hints at such evidence, but unlike the case of Mumia where every detail appears to be aired publicly, these defense attorney's are playing their cards a little closer to their chest. However, it is not necessary to have overwhelming evidence of innocence if constitutional violations can be proved. If constitutional violations can be proved, then a new trial could be set and the standard for proving guilt would be reset to the level of "beyond a reasonable doubt". Unfortunately, it now appears that the 9th circuit and the US Supreme Court have explicitly shredded part of the US Constitution, making it ok to exclude blacks from juries on the basis of race, and making it ok for the police to engage in witness intimidation. The prosecutor in this case experienced having two of his prior convictions overturned precisely for excluding blacks from juries on the basis of race and he was repramanded each time by the court. But not this time. Go figure.