SAN QUENTIN
1,000 protest execution of African American Vietnam
vet
By Nancy
Mitchell and Bill Hackwell
San Quentin Prison
On May 3, a thousand angry protesters gathered outside the
gates of San Quentin Prison to protest the execution of Manuel
Pina Babbitt. Despite an outcry from prisoner-rights advocates,
groups opposing the death penalty, religious figures and many
others, the state of California put Babbitt to death at 12:37
that morning. It was Babbitt's 50th birthday.
Babbitt was an African American veteran of the Vietnam War.
Like many Vietnam vets, he suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress
Disorder.
Babbitt was sentenced to death for the 1980 assault of a
78-year-old woman. She died of a heart attack during the
beating.
Dr. Charles Marmar, a leading expert in PTSD, studied
Babbitt's case. Marmar concluded that Babbitt, who had no
memory of the beating, had been suffering from a combat-induced
flashback when he killed the woman.
Little research had been done on PTSD by 1982, when Babbitt
was convicted. Two of the jurors have since come forward and
said they would have argued for a life sentence if they had
known of Babbitt's mental condition.
Thousands of Vietnam War veterans signed petitions urging
clemency from California Gov. Gray Davis. Davis--a Democrat who
ran in 1998 on a pro-death-penalty, pro-three-strikes
platform--dismissed the appeals.
The state also overlooked a request by Babbitt's defense for
an emergency stay of execution based on new information. These
facts revealed that his trial lawyer, James Schenk, was a
racist and was often drunk during the trial.
Schenk told Babbitt's family in 1982 that the all-white
trial jury would be better for Babbitt because African
Americans would not be able to understand the complexities of
the case. Several of Schenk's co-workers have come forward and
confirmed that he regularly used racist slurs.
California, once known as the "education state," has now
secured its reputation as the "prison state." The booming
prison industry is expanding as the state's social programs are
cut back.
In the last 15 years, California has built 21 new prisons.
It has built one new university.
One out of every four African American men in this state is
under the judicial system.
Since the death penalty was reinstated in California in
1992, there have been seven executions. Many protesters
remarked that the rate of state-sanctioned murder seems to be
increasing.
As his execution date drew nearer, Babbitt asked that
supporters pay less attention to his individual case and look
to the broader social problems that his case exemplified. He
stressed the treatment of veterans, who make up 30 percent to
40 percent of the homeless population in this country.
In his last hours, Babbitt refused his final meal. He asked
that the $50 instead be donated to homeless Vietnam vets.
This article is copyright under a Creative Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
Subscribe wwnews-subscribe@workersworld.net
Support independent news http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php)
HOME :: U.S. NEWS :: WORLD NEWS :: EDITORIALS :: SUBSCRIBE :: DONATE
Email
this article
Printable
page