The Continuing Saga of Steve Champion and Anthony Ross in the Wake of Tookie Williams’ Execution
By Tom Kerr, Counterpunch, 4 September 2007
When death row inmates are subjected to degrading and grossly unjust treatment, the rest of us ought to pay close attention, whether we subscribe to Mathew:40 or not: “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” Prisons officials are public officials, acting on our behalf, presumably for our benefit. If through our inattention or neglect we license prison officials to mistreat prisoners-some of the most helpless, abject souls among us-we license public officials to treat the public at large with contempt.
In its broad outline, Steve and Anthony’s story, which I first began to tell in January 2006 (see “Why are They Rounding Up Tookie Williams’ Friends?“), is straightforward. A few days prior to William’s execution on December 13, 2005, they along with several other inmates were rounded up and detained in the Adjustment Center, San Quentin death row’s “hole,” on charges they had conspired to retaliate against prison officials for their friend’s execution. For the past twenty months, they have been held there in stark cells on property control and with no phone privileges. From day one, both men have vehemently denied involvement in any kind of conspiracy. Indeed, judging by their many and varied writings, both have long-since transcended their violent gang pasts, explicitly repudiating, as did their friend Tookie Williams, the sorts of values, beliefs, and behaviors that fuel gangs and destroy communities. Both men, however, are award-winning prison writers and outspoken critics of San Quentin and the prison industrial complex in general. And therein lies the rub.