Abe Thomas, Nightmares Galore and Yet Another Travesty of So-Called Justice
Saturday 03/19/2005 12:23 PM
 The old gravestone for Abe Thomas was my first confirmation of what these numbered posts of stone were marking. Note how the tree is growing up over the rough-hewn tombstone. If you know what the backwards 9 is all about, let me know. (2005) File Under: Cemeteries; I Took This Photo!; Potter's Field |
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After wandering through the stones, I saw a stange shape near a tree and went over to check it out. Imagine my surprise when I found Abe Thomas's headstone (see today's image for more).
So this plot of land hidden in the middle of the woods is a graveyard. After this discovery, it would be so much easier to walk along this lonely dirt road through the woods in the dead of night (and past these stones) when I came back from Jomo's house. Right.
"Nightmares galore," is what my fortune cookie would have read.
Because there is no stone marker near the spot where this weathered grave marker with the backwards 9 is placed (if you got any thoughts on the backwards 9, please let me know), I'm thinking cenotaph. A cenotaph is a tomb or grave where the remains/body are either missing or buried somewhere else.
Abe is probably buried under one of those numbered stone posts, but his loved ones didn't know the location of Abe's last assigned seat. So they planted this (presumably cheap) hand-made headstone in an open area. Maybe they even planted a tree right behind it.
Once I knew where I was, I was even more intrigued. I turned away from Abe and saw something even stranger, just a few feet away.
More tomorrow.
And now for today's rant.
Like most people, I am a walking, talking contradiction machine. Case in point...
I am extremely in favor of capital punishment for some people because I believe it is right that such a horrible, undisputed crime can be committed that deserves death.
That said, I am 100% against capital punishment as it currently exists in our country. Ban all executions. Now. Revamp the system.
For a simple, sad rebuttal against anyone in favor of our present manner of killing criminals, look no further than the sad story of the oh-so-ironically named Jimmy Ray Slaughter. Jimmy was executed Tuesday while still protesting his innocence.
So what, you ask. Lots of people proclaim their innocence when they're strapped to the gurney. How many of those people have the original investigator on their case say they're innocent? How many of those people still got shafted once the primary suspect's alibi was discovered to be false? How many of those people had receipts for purchases made 4 hours away from the crime scene? How many of those people had blatantly wrong DNA evidence that was later proved incorrect, but that evidence was not accepted in court BECAUSE A DEADLINE HAD PASSED? Folks, there is only one deadline in a case like this, and if the evidence was submitted before Tuesday, then the deadline HAD NOT PASSED.
Then there is the whole brain scan thing that you loyal CSI fans will recognize from the Sounds of Silence episode. Dearly departed Jimmy Ray passed the brain scan with flying colors — there was no image in his brain of the crime scene. You can read more about the 100% success rate of brain printing.
Read all the sad, sad details on the case page on the web site for the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.
Now let's fill the circle. Just to remind you of my complete and complicated position on this topic, this is how you kill someone. In public with participation of the victim's family. I believe that if one of our goals of execution is to act as a deterrent, then let's maximize it. I say Pay-Per-View with the proceeds evenly split between death row defense initiatives, victims' assistance and the poorest schools in the country. Help keep people out of The Chair (under the assupmtion that there are a lot of people on death row who shouldn't be), help the vicitms of these crimes as much as possible and try to show kids better alternaties for their lives than turning into these criminals.
Final thought. Remember back in 2000 when Governor Ryan banned all future executions in Illinois? If only Jimmy Ray Slaughter had lived in a different state, maybe he'd still be alive, let alone a free man.
I am embarrassed to be an American today.
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