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James
Anderson...
by Peter Rashkin Since Dec. 12, 1979 I have moved nine times, traveled on three continents, changed jobs, careers, partners. Man! When I think about it! Someday I'll write a book. Since Dec. 12, 1979, James Anderson has lived here: East Block, San Quentin Prison. Condemned Row, they call it. Death Row. Anderson was convicted of a murder he claims he did not commit. He had a crappy defense attorney. He has put together significant documentation that seems to substantiate his contentions. The more I talk to James and go over his material, the more I tend to believe that he is a wrongly-convicted man, but as I have not sought out independent material or spoken to any of the jurors who convicted or prosecuted him to get their side of the story, I cannot maintain this with certainty. He began calling me a few months ago. Collect calls from San Quentin. I wasn't sure what he wanted, and I was afraid that my phone bill would be exorbitant. After awhile, I asked him to write instead. But his writing is hard to read, and when I got the phone bill and saw that the calls were only about $7 apiece, I told him to go ahead and call a couple of times a month. So little by little, in 15-minute calls, interrupted with recorded messages to remind me that I am speaking with someone in prison, abruptly ended when the time is up, we are getting to know each other. In a way, I'd like to believe that James did actually do whatever it is he was convicted of. I would still be compassionate to the man, and interested in his experience and his point of view. I would still oppose the death penalty. I would think that 21 years in a cell is a pretty good punishment, a severe punishment. And that you don't judge a person only about one act half a lifetime ago. I know people who were soldiers in Vietnam or other places. I don't ask if they killed anyone, or what they had to do to survive. I hope people don't kill each other. I support Pope John Paul II's call for a year of Jubilee. Let a wave of forgiveness and hope spread over the world and save it now, in this time of crisis. But if I believe James, then how can I turn my back on him? How can I put any activity or enthusiasm above the desire for justice? How can I rest until he is free? I'M AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY for two reasons: The terrible likelihood of executing innocent people, and the message it sends to society about the legitimacy of violence. I am ambivalent about our justice system. It has real institutional safeguards that prevent blatant corruption and provide the "democratic space" for a genuine struggle for justice within the system. I am reasonably confident that a covetous neighbor or political foe will not be able to use the police and courts against me in an arbitrary and self-serving way. My sense is that outright bribery is rare and that personal corruption is the rare exception at all levels. This is important. Democracy cannot function without a reasonable expectation of justice. On the other hand, giving the justice system the mandate to conduct a war on crime, an attitude fostered by prohibition (first in the Twenties and now again), perverts the system and changes its character. Now the system does not seek justice; it seeks victory over the enemy. Because the system--from the president and congress down to the cop on the beat--is so devoted to fighting drugs and gangs, I don't trust it to pursue truth and justice. Especially for the poor person in a bad neighborhood, without the resources to mount a reasonable defense. Of the 520 people on Death Row in California, it is inconceivable to me that all of them are guilty as charged. The likelihood of executing an innocent person is enough for me to oppose the death penalty. But another and even more compelling reason to oppose the death penalty is that it does not promote nonviolence, which should be our goal. Now more than ever. Guns, bombs, chemicals, germs, all the agents of destruction that money can buy. We can't afford arms races. And everyone looses. There will always be random acts of violence, but we should try to de-institutionalize it. Of course we have to protect ourselves in a reasonable way from the anti-social predators that make life bad for the rest of us. But teaching people (by example) to say "behave or we'll kill you" is absolutely the wrong message. The death penalty doesn't promote justice. It promotes violence. WITH ALL THIS IN MIND, I present James Anderson, inmate, Condemned Row. I hope you will take a few minutes to listen to his voice, or read what he has to say. Meet this man, compare his life to your own and, if you can stand it, consider for the moment the awful possibility that he may be innocent. Visit to San Quentin by Peter Rashkin A Case of Reasonable Doubt by Steve Argue (April 2002) SUPREME INJUSTICE by James Anderson
INTERVIEWS with JAMES ANDERSON (text and RealAudio)
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