I also do pet portraits as well as portraits of home, businesses, etc."
Richard in a photo taken 12 Sept, 1996
Richard C. Tully H58500
3 E 109 San Quentin State Prison
San Quentin, California 94974
Richard Tully
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Purchase Artwork By Richard by Writing Him Directly
"Rather than asking for a hand out, I am hoping for
a helping hand up...
I also do pet portraits as well as portraits of home, businesses, etc."
Richard in a photo
taken 12 Sept, 1996
Richard C. Tully
H58500
3 E 109 San Quentin State Prison
San Quentin, California 94974
The Insanity Of Capital Punishment
At the time that I agreed to move cells, I didn't know who Mr.
Kelly was. I only knew that I was moving into a cell next door to a friend
of mine and that the guy nioving out (Kelly) was known as a J-Cat, meaning
he was considered insane by the inmates and staff alike.
The actual happening of the move was a joyous one for myself
and my new neighbor. But, for me, the joy was very short-lived. The moment
I stepped into that cell the odor hit me at about the same time as the sight
of the filth. It was an overpowering odor of feces - stale and fresh - that
came from every direction. Never, even during my experience in the Marine
Corps, have I experienced anything as overwhelmingly pungent as I did when
I stepped in the cell that ML Kelly had just vacated. I tried to back step
out of that cell but the door was already closing behind me that quick. I
couldn't protest since I had wanted to make the move in the first place.
The only thing left for me to do was bite the bullet and get to doing a clean
up like I've never cleaned before.
It took me more hours to clean that cell than I counted.
The cop was good enough to keep bringing me disinfectant and industrial-strength
cleaners as I needed them. The walls, the floor, the solid steel bed frame,
and even the ceiling all had feces encrusted on them. As I scrubbed, I recall
thinking that painting the cell might help to get rid of the odor But I figured
that all I needed was the smell of paint and feces combined for 24/7. My
best bet was to just scrub it out; which I did. But that's nor the point
of this writing.
The point of writing this is that now, a couple of years later,
a jury voted nine out of twelve that Mr. Kelly is sane. The implications
of that verdict are well known by many inside and outside of these walls,
including those nine who voted that he was sane.
I can't help but think that if any of those nine jurors were
to have experienced firsthand, up close and personal, the living conditions
that Mr. Kelly intentionally subjected himself to as a constant way of life,
they would see and truly understand that he is NOT sane at all. Indeed, he
left the threshold of sanity a good distance back. it doesn't take x amount
of years at Harvard
or x amount of paper pro-claiming one's ability to discern such
things. If one or all of those jurors could have stepped into Mr. Kelly's
cell and had that door closed behind them for even a few minutes, much less
for one full night, it would seem impossible that they could come to the
conclusion they did. But that's not the reality of it all.
The reality is that those none jurors didn't vote on the issue
of insanity. They voted on the issue of execution, a death of a man at the
hands of the state, a death they could execute without feling personally
responsible. That jury came back in two hours time. Am I to understand
that the jury went to the jury room, went over their instructions, debated
the issue, voted, and wrote the verdict all in two hours ? Or did they
already have their minds made up before they even reached the jury room?
Very Truly Yours,
In Christ,
Richard C. Tully, H-5850C
3 E 109 San Quentin State Prison
San Quentin, CA 94974
THE ABOVE APPEARED IN THE NOVEMBER 1998 ISSUE OF THE NEW ABOLITIONIST
| Click to see some of Richard's Paintings |
