Tookie Williams: my opinion

I put up this question a bit ago and appreciated hearing your comments. The more I think about it, though, the more his whole case bothers me. I've come to the decision that he should not be granted clemency. Here's why:

The arguments for saving his life come down to these:
1) The death penalty is cruel and unusual punishment. It shouldn't exist in the first place. Thus anyone who can be pardoned/granted clemency should be.

2) Williams can do more harm than good if he lives.

3) If the point of our justice system is rehabilitation, then surely Williams is rehabilitated. He regrets that he started the crips and has been continually working against gang violence.

4) Maybe, just maybe, he didn't commit those crimes.

My counter-arguments:
1) Yes. (Ok, this is a bad counter-argument.) But if we truly want justice, we should not simply grant life in prison without parole to those people who happen to gain lots of national attention. It should be granted to all persons, regardless of crime, race, age, wealth, intelligence, or popularity. Making a few exceptions here and there because the public eye makes us feel guilty cheapens our legal system. Better to do more good by revising the system.

2) At first blush, I agreed with this. Then it started to piss me off. So we should pardon a rich doctor from murder because he can save lives, but a poor person working part-time at Stater Bros. grocery store should die? Should we forgive the politician because he's so important and powerful? Should we say that a teacher should be forgiven of sex scandals because she can teach people to learn to read? I certainly hope not. This really comes down to people who feel uncomfortable with the death penalty, I think (see #1).

3) The first true mark of rehabilitation is admitting to your crimes and feeling remorse. Tookie Williams has never admitted to the four murders he is accused of. And this is the kicker--he's not on death row for being a gang member, not even a powerful gang member. He's on death row because he has been found guilty by a jury of his peers for four bloody murders. He can feel sorry for being a gang member all he wants. How do you make that up to the family of the poor guy shot in the back three times for working at a gas station?

4) He's worn out the legal system and exhausted all options of appeal. When the system says your guilty, and I'm on the outside without knowing the ins and outs of every piece of evidence, I'm inclined to go with the verdict.