Thank you to Clive Stafford Smith for taking part in this episode. To find out more about his work supporting the next generation of human rights advocates, please visit: justiceleague.org.uk
:( - Do you also support freedom of speech...guess not given my comment you removed. Well, should Clive Stafford's close family members ever fall victim to a heinous crime, I'm sure his humanity for the death penalty would suddenly disappear.
@@outogetyougotyou5250 Innocent people being murdered by a failing system funded by taxpayer money IS a heinous crime! One that we (and many countries have already) can prevent! This is what Clive's trying to get across in the video.
@@outogetyougotyou5250 it's said that disagreeing with American Rebuplican politics and the justice system is the first step on the path to enlightenment. I don't mean to joke about such a thing...well I do actually... but surely you can see that such opposition to forgiveness from a country that leans on religion and "gahhhd saving Amerrrrka" is painfully ironic? Clive isn't abolishing punishment, just the death penalty, and given his statistics regarding innocent people being killed and exonerated, I would think that the main priority for any victims' family would be to ensure beyond ANY MEASURE of doubt, that the right person is convicted. Preferably before anyone innocent is electrocuted, injected or gassed to death.
I’m sure convicted serial killer Gary Ridgeway needs a friend - with whom he can discuss how he murdered 49 sex workers over an approx 18 year period…..
A man should be judged by people who he keeps close. Ironic calling supreme justices fascist and then fraternising with rapists and murderers. Practically none of those people were actually innocent as he himself admits, ita just likely 13% didnt commit that exact crime
Unbelievable, you people are saps and the criminals using people like him see them coming from miles away. A persons worst 15 minutes don’t just happen, they are the culmination of a lifetime of bad decisions.
The first lawyer I've ever liked and respected. Completely correct about how the government and court systems are corrupt and constructed purposely so.
Please can we stop idolising actors and pop stars and start giving people like this man the credit they deserve. A literal hero of the people. I wonder what the world would be like if we all realised that everyone was better than their worst 15minutes. Man crushing big time. Edit: Just to add, that people who get offered places to study science at Cambridge usually go one of three ways: Rocket scientist, banking, or are hoovered up by a form of corporate law. They dont set about saving lives of convicted criminals and representing the "unrepresentable". Even more reason to revere this chap.
15 mins that forever changed the lives of the victims family, and all the years of financial and emotional investment, wiped out in an instant. Singaporean with the capital punishment and proud of it. Humans by nature are creatures of conflict, and the carrot does not work for all situations
@briarshard2871 I have no answers for the world, but a system whereby punishment for child rape is 20yrs and being caught with half a key of Weed is punishable by death, as Singapores is, is not only antiquated but actually scary.
@fliss1304 against the death penalty. There's a case to be made for AND against it. Against case: possibility of an innocent person being executed. the racial imbalance on death row that exists in the US. the fact that in some cases judges don't have discretion over it's application. There may be mitigating circumstances underpinning the crime they were convicted of. For Case: Dennis Rader (BTK). Arthur Shawcross (Genessee River Killer). Gary Ridgeway (Green River Killer). Jeffrey Dahmer. Guys who CAN'T be released EVER. There's better uses for the $ spent keeping them alive in prison.
@@colleenmonfross4283 Do tell us what "clear agenda" one has against a barbaric establishment like Gitmo. Tell us how suggesting innocent people are being detained left and right is really just a lie, as if it's not patently true through the dysfunctionalities of the jusitce system domestically, even without involving colossal mistakes like "The Patriotic Act" and The War on Terror and all that. Not gonna lie. I'm always glad there's a huge ocean between Europe and North America. Y'all are special over there.
@ Yes, I understand. That’s an Old Testament view though. An eye for an eye. It’s true that to stop capital punishment, the that idea of justice is compromised, but I believe it’s better to compromise.
This. It is so hard to change your opinion even in the face of evidence, and I am guilty of this myself at times, so your doing this is quite a feat. I wish more people would be like you! Have a great day!
@@robo_coball it took for me to change my position on the death penalty was seeing those horrible videos on LiveLeak over a decade ago of people getting executed, and I didn't want to have anything to do with supporting the death penalty anymore.
I started to watch this one knowing I wasn't going to like this man and that I was going to disagree with what he did. By the end, he had my complete attention. I could listen to him for hours and he has totally changed my viewpoint. Men like this can change the world.
Same here. Exactly the same with me. I didn't want to watch at first. But getting over 700 out of G bay says something. Maybe they are not all saints, but F it, in the west, we are not barbarians stuck in the medieval society.
@@innocento.1552there are far too many barbarians and not enough who are willing to stand up and say they were wrong. Thank you for seeing the error of your thinking, instead of being defensive and resistant.
I too was expecting to listen and disagree with him. I commend him on trying to improve the world. You can tell he’s a good, moral man with intelligence and purpose. He shifted my thinking
Having compassion for someone who has not shown that same compassion to others is truly admirable. The best argument Clive made was that the death penalty doesn’t add any good to this world. Clive, I’m curious whether you find it easier or harder to extend compassion to those you represent who have committed the crimes of which they are convicted and led to death row or to those in the justice system responsible for the continuation of the death penalty?
Edward Earl Johnson was a man convicted in 1979 at the age of 18 and subsequently executed by the U.S. state of Mississippi for the murder of a policeman, J.T. Trest, and the sexual assault of a 69-year-old woman, Sally Franklin. Throughout his eight years on death row, he continued to plead his innocence. Johnson was executed by gas chamber. His case came to international attention when he was featured in the BBC documentary Fourteen Days in May. Broadcast in 1987, the documentary showed the last two weeks of Johnson's life. It starts on May 6, the day that Johnson learns the date of his execution. During interviews, Johnson said that his confession was forced by police in a deserted wood while they were threatening to shoot him. Throughout the documentary he also raised the point of the sexual assault victim saying during the police lineup that he was not the man who raped her and pointed to another individual. In the time since execution occurred, Johnson's lawyers located a woman who claimed to have an alibi for Johnson, being with him during the time of the crime. She volunteered her testimony at the courthouse but was supposedly told to "go home and mind her own business".
I'm glad someone mentioned this, that his case is known to more than the few. What a poor, poor, lovely man he was. The fact that the film "14 days in May" is banned in the U.S, and the prison warden tasked with, and responsible for his death is now very, very, very anti-death penalty. He now sees himself as a victim!!???? The jury who convicted and the judge who sentenced Johnson are ENTIRELY at fault, and that he was nothing more than the puppet who carried out their instructions. The Nazis said something very similar, I think
Would it make any difference if they condemned the death penalty but defended abortion? Is there not a difference between an adult who murders someone and an unborn baby human?
@@raukawa4732 they should either condemn both or support both I vote support both as the abortion issue has no place in the political arena. We don’t debate any other medical issues.
@@raukawa4732 Yes, the difference is fundamental as one refers to the generation of fear and other tortures, whereas the other refers to the mere cessation of life potential. If you can't see the difference then you've likely never suffered nor have a functional ethical or psychological framework.
I love, LOVE this man. His thoughts 100% reflect my own, which is not something I come across a lot. I have a pen pal who is on death row, so this really touched me.
Clive's 1980's documentary '14 days in May' really moved me to be totally against the death penalty. I can't watch that doc without crying, knowing an innocent young man was put to death 😢
I watched the documentary about Earl Johnson when I was 15 in RE class at school and it made a huge impression on me, I was so upset to find out that they had killed him. 😢
Fourteen Days In May. I was 17 when it was first broadcast in 1987. It was harrowing to watch the whole process. And to find out Earl was innocent? Horrible.
He was on a death row programme I will never forget.He sat with a prisonor until he executed.The prisonor was later to be found innocent.At the news conference after the execution he said I may look calm but I'm not.Its a cruel world.
An expensive lawyer can change a death penalty to life in prison, or maybe even less. This means that rich boys walk and poor boys hang. For this reason alone, execution is wrong.
No, not that reason “alone.” Certainly that reason in accompaniment with the much bigger reason that legal murder is still murder and we very simply never have the right to take someone’s life from them against their will even if they did that to others.
@christinabellini537 a member of my wife's family was raped, murdered and mutilated when he was 12 years old. His murderer sits in jail decades later, warm and well fed, regularly taunting the families of his victims. For 10 minutes work, and £15 worth of drugs, he could have been dealt with decades ago and the families of the young boys could have enjoyed a small measure of peace.
He is an amazing man, he come from a family in the UK that has a history of being very special. His aunt began the school I went to in the UK which was a liberal and forward thinking place.
"Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends." J.R.R Tolkien thru Gandalf.
Fully respect everything this man stands for, but also wanna show some respect for the interviewer!! This seemed like a tricky one. They did amazingly well.
This guys much smarter than a lot of Cambridge academics I guarantee you. Those academics are the same creed who end up as the lunatic judges. Cambridge is a very sheltered closed institution. I work in FE in the UK and we send X amount of our kids off to oxbridge
Cambridge has its council estates , and slang that gets copied from London , it’s not all posh and rainbows in cambs, very multicultural aswell , all the top university students sound like that , that’s true
@@lu544 “And so, it comes to pass in time, that the earth ceases for us to be a weltering chaos. We walk in the great hall of life, looking up and round reverentially. Nothing is despicable - all is meaningful; nothing is small - all is part of a whole, whose beginning and end we know not. The life that throbs in us is a pulsation from it; too mighty for our comprehension, no too small. And so, it comes to pass at last, that whereas the sky was at first a small blue rag stretched out over us and so low that our hands might touch it, pressing down on us, it raises itself into an immeasurable blue arch over our heads, and we begin to live again.” Compassion is a precious and transformative thing, for those who receive it and for those who give it freely. I hope that someday you will begin to live again.
Just started watching this so not sure if he mentions it but I watched his documentary about James Earl Johnson I think his name was. Was on death row and was one of the most heartbreaking stories I’ve seen . It’s a hard watch. Sorry his name was Edward Earl Johnson and the documentary is 14 Days In May.
The moment I heard zyclon B I felt like my heart just dropped to my stomach, I lost family members to Zyclon B in the camps and knowing that he was innocent is horrific!
While this didn't change my stance on the death penalty, it did remind me how shitty the American legal system is. If the system actually cared about justice and not money or power then there would be way fewer innocent folks caught up to begin with. The corrupt broken system leads to innocents being convicted or the guilty getting to walk.
You have to respect the man’s passion and drive. That said, it’s difficult to take him seriously when he’s so blatantly gullible and/or naive to believe “Well the man’s obviously innocent because he said so.”
I think you need to get familiar with british humor. Obviously someones word won't be the end all be all, but it's a better starting point than with the dude that says "Yeah I killed him, and I'd do it again!"
It starts with the person saying they are innocent _until the moment they die_. If they say it until the end, they either did it and want to convince someone (sometimes themselves), or they are truly innocent and want people to figure out the truth. Then they investigate to see if the person was truly innocent, and to spread their story. Since killing an innocent person is wrong.
Because "reputable" drug companies won't sell drugs for euthanasia. So the executioners are forced to buy from sketchy companies, whose controls are lax. It's terrible.
Noble man fighting for a Noble cause. I agree I think to an extent it is inhumane, feels like such a medieval way for such a modern world. There has to be a better solution.
The profession of human rights lawyer has taken a beating with the likes of Starmer being one, but this guy is what I had hoped for in a human rights lawyer.
Clive Stafford Smith… excellent lawyer and person! I have a lot of respect for him. Especially after Edward Earl Johnson’s execution. He was so blunt and direct about what the family thought. It was fantastic to see someone challenging the system like he did! He should be awarded an MBE at least?
It's easy to be friends with those people from the comfort of them being locked up and knowing they'll die. Would he have made friends with them in the real world though? Or if it was his daughter/father/ loved one they murdered or raped?
So, I used to believe in the death penalty as a ‘knee jerk reaction’ to heinous crimes. Now, I am absolutely against it. The reasons being: no-one has the right to take another life. Execution makes the executioner a murderer. The executioner is acting in cold blood, not in self defence or in war. If he or she does not have a conscience about it, then there is something really wrong with them as a human being. Some people who have been executed, have been found to be innocent after execution. Execution is not necessarily less expensive than imprisonment for many years. To me, a huge punishment for a serial killer or a child molester is to prevent them from doing what they want to do……imagine being locked up and not be able to do what you want ! Why does the USA prevent abortion, but not the killling of adults who may or may not be innocent? Why should they be allowed to take one life but spare others? Bizarre….
Its quite funny this lawyer confuses two things While people are in prison- he considers them to be potentially innocent. But when they are released- he refers to them as innocent (rather than found innocent). He then cites how inaccurate the legal system is. 98% of guantamino released doesnt mean 98% are innocent. It just means they dont have sufficient proof. Hes a very kind man. I wonder how he would respond if his family were victims of those he represented ?
Sometimes listening to people talk it’s like they can’t comprehend that the state would or could get it wrong. It’s like they don’t want to believe it or the thought is too upsetting for them. I find that fascinating.
Excellent guest. But the interviewer lost the opportunity to ask about tricky stuff... like what is his view on applying DP to a proven guilty serial killer, ped0phile etc
One thing about human behaviour we don't become so attached to someone who has committed a crime upon s victim we never knew. If this guy had his wife and children butchered and no reason for the motive. Then you feel it.personaly
No it isn't. Life in prison is. Some folks are just too uncaring about all the innocent people that have been killed. Unless you're willing to accept yourself or a loved one as collateral damage , you shouldn't support killing
For those innocent people who have been wrongfully put to death, it is wrong but those who have committed a sick, pre-meditated murder to a child or someone innocent that didn’t have any connection to their killer- could you look those genuine victims in the eyes or their family and tell them the death sentence is wrong? Genuinely curious on the take on this- not hating
I empathise with this guy, he is obviously a good man who cares for people and always tries to find the best in them. On the other hand, he is biased because of the personal contact. The people he represents are murderers, rapists, liars, generally people who can never walk on the street. They chose their path and they received consequences. Overall, I wish nothing but the best for him ~
Many of us, and I imagine this guy, still think the death penalty is a fate that even the worst people alive don't deserve for several reasons, remember that!
Sorry but you clearly didn't watch the whole video before commenting this. He states very clearly that in some places over half the people who go on death row are innocent. And even those who aren't, it's not like he's releasing them "on the streets", he just doesn't think that doing to these people the same thing they did to others is gonna bring society any good.
Its your own bias to believe that just because people did terrible things that you can torture them, yes torture not humanely killed from electrocution. But on the other hand, some innocent people get killed anyway. So you really feel a few innocent people's time and life being unfairly prosecuted is worth making sure horrible people don't exist? It seems you didn't spend that much time thinking about it.
@@soonlet4977 I actually spend a lot of time thinking about this issue. No justice is perfect and never will be. Just because people slip through the cracks or people get wrongfully sentenced doesn't mean we should stop enforcing the law and its punishments. He will tell you that half of these people are innocent. Based on what? It's based on their words, nothing else. If they had a proof, I'm sure he would immediately defend them and got them out of the death row. Some people deserve the punishment, it's ok if you disagree.
Thank you to Clive Stafford Smith for taking part in this episode. To find out more about his work supporting the next generation of human rights advocates, please visit: justiceleague.org.uk
:( - Do you also support freedom of speech...guess not given my comment you removed. Well, should Clive Stafford's close family members ever fall victim to a heinous crime, I'm sure his humanity for the death penalty would suddenly disappear.
@@outogetyougotyou5250 Not everyone is as hateful as you are. Are you also a MAGA?
@@outogetyougotyou5250 Innocent people being murdered by a failing system funded by taxpayer money IS a heinous crime! One that we (and many countries have already) can prevent! This is what Clive's trying to get across in the video.
@@stephaniechia6338 Well for now. it seems majority of the American people disagree.
@@outogetyougotyou5250 it's said that disagreeing with American Rebuplican politics and the justice system is the first step on the path to enlightenment. I don't mean to joke about such a thing...well I do actually... but surely you can see that such opposition to forgiveness from a country that leans on religion and "gahhhd saving Amerrrrka" is painfully ironic? Clive isn't abolishing punishment, just the death penalty, and given his statistics regarding innocent people being killed and exonerated, I would think that the main priority for any victims' family would be to ensure beyond ANY MEASURE of doubt, that the right person is convicted. Preferably before anyone innocent is electrocuted, injected or gassed to death.
A friend in a friendless world is truly something to be proud of. A light in the darkness.
I’m sure convicted serial killer Gary Ridgeway needs a friend - with whom he can discuss how he murdered 49 sex workers over an approx 18 year period…..
A man should be judged by people who he keeps close. Ironic calling supreme justices fascist and then fraternising with rapists and murderers. Practically none of those people were actually innocent as he himself admits, ita just likely 13% didnt commit that exact crime
What an intelligent, eloquent and - above all - lovely human being👏
Agree the level of compassion and intelligence is beautiful. Glad these people are out there...❤
So lovely defending the most vile people on the planet
Unbelievable, you people are saps and the criminals using people like him see them coming from miles away. A persons worst 15 minutes don’t just happen, they are the culmination of a lifetime of bad decisions.
I don't like him at all. He's probably a psycho himself
The first lawyer I've ever liked and respected. Completely correct about how the government and court systems are corrupt and constructed purposely so.
Who dont like lawyers they stop you going jail 😂
@@TaylorzWorld1 unless they have a better one 😅
What a special guy. If only there were more people like him. Well done Clive. You're an inspiration.
Please can we stop idolising actors and pop stars and start giving people like this man the credit they deserve. A literal hero of the people. I wonder what the world would be like if we all realised that everyone was better than their worst 15minutes. Man crushing big time.
Edit: Just to add, that people who get offered places to study science at Cambridge usually go one of three ways: Rocket scientist, banking, or are hoovered up by a form of corporate law. They dont set about saving lives of convicted criminals and representing the "unrepresentable". Even more reason to revere this chap.
Thank you for this wonderful comment!! You are soooo right💚
15 mins that forever changed the lives of the victims family, and all the years of financial and emotional investment, wiped out in an instant. Singaporean with the capital punishment and proud of it. Humans by nature are creatures of conflict, and the carrot does not work for all situations
@@briarshard2871 Singapore is stuck in the middle ages.
@briarshard2871 I have no answers for the world, but a system whereby punishment for child rape is 20yrs and being caught with half a key of Weed is punishable by death, as Singapores is, is not only antiquated but actually scary.
@@Simstone2024there's obviously some middle ground
The 14 year old kid getting held in Guantanamo Bay for telling them where to get tomatoes is just peak American idiocy.
That's assuming what he said is true. I don't believe anything he said. He has a clear agenda and truth is not involved.
@@colleenmonfross4283what a clear agenda against Guantanamo?
@fliss1304 against the death penalty.
There's a case to be made for AND against it.
Against case: possibility of an innocent person being executed.
the racial imbalance on death row that exists in the US.
the fact that in some cases judges don't have discretion over it's
application. There may be mitigating circumstances underpinning
the crime they were convicted of.
For Case: Dennis Rader (BTK). Arthur Shawcross (Genessee River Killer). Gary Ridgeway (Green River Killer). Jeffrey Dahmer. Guys who CAN'T be released EVER. There's better uses for the $ spent keeping them alive in prison.
@colleenmonfross4283 maybe his world view is based on the stories he has to tell, rather than the other way around as you suggest
@@colleenmonfross4283 Do tell us what "clear agenda" one has against a barbaric establishment like Gitmo. Tell us how suggesting innocent people are being detained left and right is really just a lie, as if it's not patently true through the dysfunctionalities of the jusitce system domestically, even without involving colossal mistakes like "The Patriotic Act" and The War on Terror and all that.
Not gonna lie. I'm always glad there's a huge ocean between Europe and North America. Y'all are special over there.
the levels of humility in this man are that of which I could only ever aspire to emulate
“We are all better than our worst 15 minutes.” So powerful.
some people aren't
I think that’s true and why I’m against the death penalty. US is Old Testament and it still is because many people see it that way.
@@benbunyip has nothing to do with religion for me, that is my morals that say you forfeit your right to live if you take someone else's.
@ Yes, I understand. That’s an Old Testament view though. An eye for an eye. It’s true that to stop capital punishment, the that idea of justice is compromised, but I believe it’s better to compromise.
Lots of people are not.
Well...i have to stand corrected on some of my ideas. Informative.
This. It is so hard to change your opinion even in the face of evidence, and I am guilty of this myself at times, so your doing this is quite a feat. I wish more people would be like you! Have a great day!
@@robo_coball it took for me to change my position on the death penalty was seeing those horrible videos on LiveLeak over a decade ago of people getting executed, and I didn't want to have anything to do with supporting the death penalty anymore.
I had to reassess my beliefs on this subject as well. I am now firmly against the death penalty. Just too many mistakes are made.
This is the most powerful comment here!
He was invited to visit our school when I was a teenager and he was so thoughtful, kind and interested in what we were doing. Such a man of integrity.
I started to watch this one knowing I wasn't going to like this man and that I was going to disagree with what he did.
By the end, he had my complete attention. I could listen to him for hours and he has totally changed my viewpoint.
Men like this can change the world.
Same here. Exactly the same with me. I didn't want to watch at first. But getting over 700 out of G bay says something. Maybe they are not all saints, but F it, in the west, we are not barbarians stuck in the medieval society.
@@innocento.1552there are far too many barbarians and not enough who are willing to stand up and say they were wrong. Thank you for seeing the error of your thinking, instead of being defensive and resistant.
"He would have got life, but he shouldn't have got death"
Powerful.
Powerful on tax payers pockets too 👀
@@braddo7270common american mindset you have, profit over people? profit over a HUMAN life?? just sad.
@@rebeccaroba9299 I'm not American... 👀 this is awkward.
@@rebeccaroba9299tell that to the victims
@braddo7270 you do have an American mindset tho.. embarrassing
I too was expecting to listen and disagree with him. I commend him on trying to improve the world. You can tell he’s a good, moral man with intelligence and purpose. He shifted my thinking
Having compassion for someone who has not shown that same compassion to others is truly admirable. The best argument Clive made was that the death penalty doesn’t add any good to this world. Clive, I’m curious whether you find it easier or harder to extend compassion to those you represent who have committed the crimes of which they are convicted and led to death row or to those in the justice system responsible for the continuation of the death penalty?
Edward Earl Johnson was a man convicted in 1979 at the age of 18 and subsequently executed by the U.S. state of Mississippi for the murder of a policeman, J.T. Trest, and the sexual assault of a 69-year-old woman, Sally Franklin. Throughout his eight years on death row, he continued to plead his innocence. Johnson was executed by gas chamber.
His case came to international attention when he was featured in the BBC documentary Fourteen Days in May. Broadcast in 1987, the documentary showed the last two weeks of Johnson's life. It starts on May 6, the day that Johnson learns the date of his execution. During interviews, Johnson said that his confession was forced by police in a deserted wood while they were threatening to shoot him.
Throughout the documentary he also raised the point of the sexual assault victim saying during the police lineup that he was not the man who raped her and pointed to another individual.
In the time since execution occurred, Johnson's lawyers located a woman who claimed to have an alibi for Johnson, being with him during the time of the crime. She volunteered her testimony at the courthouse but was supposedly told to "go home and mind her own business".
I remember that documentary to this day & it brings a tear to my eye😢
Was he later declared as innocent by the court or some legal institution?
Also was the actual person who did this was caught?
@xyz2371 highly unlikely that the real perpetrator was/will ever be apprehended after having the wrong guy for such a long time
I'm glad someone mentioned this, that his case is known to more than the few. What a poor, poor, lovely man he was. The fact that the film "14 days in May" is banned in the U.S, and the prison warden tasked with, and responsible for his death is now very, very, very anti-death penalty. He now sees himself as a victim!!???? The jury who convicted and the judge who sentenced Johnson are ENTIRELY at fault, and that he was nothing more than the puppet who carried out their instructions. The Nazis said something very similar, I think
I'm going to guess the vast majority are guilty though.
“Listen to the pope about abortion but not the death penalty“ 👏
Exactly. Only when it serves their agenda. It's not about truth. It's about power and control
???
Would it make any difference if they condemned the death penalty but defended abortion? Is there not a difference between an adult who murders someone and an unborn baby human?
@@raukawa4732 they should either condemn both or support both I vote support both as the abortion issue has no place in the political arena. We don’t debate any other medical issues.
@@raukawa4732 Yes, the difference is fundamental as one refers to the generation of fear and other tortures, whereas the other refers to the mere cessation of life potential. If you can't see the difference then you've likely never suffered nor have a functional ethical or psychological framework.
This dude might be single-handedly the wisest, most grounded human I have ever seen
He’s got 2 hands, mate
Wow what a man, particularly powerful was his answer to proudest moment in his life and how humbling the answer was.
I love, LOVE this man. His thoughts 100% reflect my own, which is not something I come across a lot. I have a pen pal who is on death row, so this really touched me.
Clive's 1980's documentary '14 days in May' really moved me to be totally against the death penalty. I can't watch that doc without crying, knowing an innocent young man was put to death 😢
Oh yh brilliant documentary watched it like 10 15 years ago never forgot the name
Agreed superb
Yes I was already against death penalty but this doco cemented my belief !
Incredible incredible human, using his heart and his head for the highest good. Absolutely humbling.
I watched the documentary about Earl Johnson when I was 15 in RE class at school and it made a huge impression on me, I was so upset to find out that they had killed him. 😢
Fourteen Days In May. I was 17 when it was first broadcast in 1987. It was harrowing to watch the whole process. And to find out Earl was innocent? Horrible.
He was on a death row programme I will never forget.He sat with a prisonor until he executed.The prisonor was later to be found innocent.At the news conference after the execution he said I may look calm but I'm not.Its a cruel world.
I watched the same thing it was heart breaking
An expensive lawyer can change a death penalty to life in prison, or maybe even less. This means that rich boys walk and poor boys hang. For this reason alone, execution is wrong.
No, not that reason “alone.” Certainly that reason in accompaniment with the much bigger reason that legal murder is still murder and we very simply never have the right to take someone’s life from them against their will even if they did that to others.
@christinabellini537 a member of my wife's family was raped, murdered and mutilated when he was 12 years old. His murderer sits in jail decades later, warm and well fed, regularly taunting the families of his victims. For 10 minutes work, and £15 worth of drugs, he could have been dealt with decades ago and the families of the young boys could have enjoyed a small measure of peace.
My eyes almost popped when you said zyclon-b... no explanation needed...
I know. Basically they were inspired the Nazies.
He is an amazing man, he come from a family in the UK that has a history of being very special. His aunt began the school I went to in the UK which was a liberal and forward thinking place.
"Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends." J.R.R Tolkien thru Gandalf.
I mean yea he was a huge catholic.
Fully respect everything this man stands for, but also wanna show some respect for the interviewer!! This seemed like a tricky one. They did amazingly well.
This is the best informative human rights podcast I’ve ever had to listen to thanks to Clive Stafford Smith I’m so thrilled 👏🏾
That is exactly how I imagine every professor at Cambridge sounds.
This guys much smarter than a lot of Cambridge academics I guarantee you. Those academics are the same creed who end up as the lunatic judges. Cambridge is a very sheltered closed institution. I work in FE in the UK and we send X amount of our kids off to oxbridge
Cambridge has its council estates , and slang that gets copied from London , it’s not all posh and rainbows in cambs, very multicultural aswell , all the top university students sound like that , that’s true
What a great video. This man is truly doing good in this world.
Thank you Clive - You are an absolute good
I read his book about Guantanamo whilst on holiday. Would reccomend it 100%
We love decency . Thank you
You love killers?
@@lu544 what a totally ridiculous thing to say . Your tenuousness will trip you up
@@lu544they should be given compassion as human beings, not “for their crimes”
@@Liz-kj2jj Hard pass, that doesn't make them special to deserve any of that.
@@lu544 “And so, it comes to pass in time, that the earth ceases for us to be a weltering chaos. We walk in the great hall of life, looking up and round reverentially. Nothing is despicable - all is meaningful; nothing is small - all is part of a whole, whose beginning and end we know not. The life that throbs in us is a pulsation from it; too mighty for our comprehension, no too small.
And so, it comes to pass at last, that whereas the sky was at first a small blue rag stretched out over us and so low that our hands might touch it, pressing down on us, it raises itself into an immeasurable blue arch over our heads, and we begin to live again.”
Compassion is a precious and transformative thing, for those who receive it and for those who give it freely. I hope that someday you will begin to live again.
The best content on TH-cam! Thank you LADBibel TV!!
What a deeply human, humorous, man who brings grace to the world.
Good interviewing, asking the questions we all want to ask!!
What an amazing man. What an instrument of social justice. Much to be learnt from him.
I need this man’s level of self control. How he can deal with so much evil without letting it make him mad is so admirable
14 Days in May will live with me forever
I recently watched it again with my daughter who has graduated in Law
Heartbreaking
Just started watching this so not sure if he mentions it but I watched his documentary about James Earl Johnson I think his name was. Was on death row and was one of the most heartbreaking stories I’ve seen . It’s a hard watch.
Sorry his name was Edward Earl Johnson and the documentary is 14 Days In May.
Remember that documentary too. That's the reason I oppose the death penalty.
Guessing you had James Earl Jones in your head hahaha
Darth Vader did plenty wrong but his actor didnt 😂
@@987jof yeah I think I did 🤦🏻
I could listen to this man talk for hours, wow!
The moment I heard zyclon B I felt like my heart just dropped to my stomach, I lost family members to Zyclon B in the camps and knowing that he was innocent is horrific!
While this didn't change my stance on the death penalty, it did remind me how shitty the American legal system is. If the system actually cared about justice and not money or power then there would be way fewer innocent folks caught up to begin with. The corrupt broken system leads to innocents being convicted or the guilty getting to walk.
exactly
the problem isnt capital punishment being used, the problem is it being used in the wrong instances
You have to respect the man’s passion and drive. That said, it’s difficult to take him seriously when he’s so blatantly gullible and/or naive to believe “Well the man’s obviously innocent because he said so.”
I think his humour has went over your head here.
I think you need to get familiar with british humor. Obviously someones word won't be the end all be all, but it's a better starting point than with the dude that says "Yeah I killed him, and I'd do it again!"
It starts with the person saying they are innocent _until the moment they die_. If they say it until the end, they either did it and want to convince someone (sometimes themselves), or they are truly innocent and want people to figure out the truth.
Then they investigate to see if the person was truly innocent, and to spread their story. Since killing an innocent person is wrong.
The world needs more people like Clive
I love this man for calling out the Supreme Court
An extraordinary story. An extraordinary man. I leave wiser than I came.
I’d love to see him chat with Louis Theroux 😂
I was literally just thinking that he reminded me of Louis a bit!! Would be an interesting chat for sure
what a wonderful human being.Truly. Humanity is everything, he has it in bucket loads.
I really was fascinated listening to this man. Such interesting insights.
How do we have elective euthanasia in some countries and at veterinary practices that happens peacefully but so many executions go so wrong
Because it's harder for people to not care about animals the same way we dehumanize one another
Because the companies that make euthanasia drugs won’t allow them to be used in executions.
John Oliver does a great episode on this if you're interested...
Because there are no hard feelings and biases there and a doctor does them.
Because "reputable" drug companies won't sell drugs for euthanasia. So the executioners are forced to buy from sketchy companies, whose controls are lax. It's terrible.
Noble man fighting for a Noble cause. I agree I think to an extent it is inhumane, feels like such a medieval way for such a modern world. There has to be a better solution.
There is a better solution, every other civilised country in the world already follows it.
The profession of human rights lawyer has taken a beating with the likes of Starmer being one, but this guy is what I had hoped for in a human rights lawyer.
Starmer wasn’t one you muppet.
@@peteconrad2077he was
This was really insightful 👍🏿 I've learnt a lot from his ways of reasoning 🙏🏿
Clive Stafford Smith… excellent lawyer and person! I have a lot of respect for him. Especially after Edward Earl Johnson’s execution. He was so blunt and direct about what the family thought. It was fantastic to see someone challenging the system like he did! He should be awarded an MBE at least?
This was the programme I watched he was so kind to Earl Johnson.such a genuine man.Thought I recognised his voice.
he has been awarded an OBE
I love him and his sense of morality he seems to fight for justice for people in hopeless situations. Highly intelligent man.
as it is also Disgusting , even disturbing , to with malice aforethought salaciously and , or inflict a deliberately painfully prolonged murder ..
Wow, I could listen to him for hours and hours.
It's easy to be friends with those people from the comfort of them being locked up and knowing they'll die. Would he have made friends with them in the real world though? Or if it was his daughter/father/ loved one they murdered or raped?
What a kind and passionate man,must be so heartbreaking to witness innocent people taking their last breath.
As a la student, he is my inspiration and I would definitely stand up for such causes ❤
Best episode yet. Bravo 🤙🏼
He’s a beautiful soul. I could listen to him all day
So, I used to believe in the death penalty as a ‘knee jerk reaction’ to heinous crimes. Now, I am absolutely against it. The reasons being: no-one has the right to take another life. Execution makes the executioner a murderer. The executioner is acting in cold blood, not in self defence or in war. If he or she does not have a conscience about it, then there is something really wrong with them as a human being. Some people who have been executed, have been found to be innocent after execution. Execution is not necessarily less expensive than imprisonment for many years. To me, a huge punishment for a serial killer or a child molester is to prevent them from doing what they want to do……imagine being locked up and not be able to do what you want !
Why does the USA prevent abortion, but not the killling of adults who may or may not be innocent? Why should they be allowed to take one life but spare others? Bizarre….
Don't be an idiot. It's always murder then. Stop being a hypocrite. War and self defense are also murder
This is the type of Human Rights Lawyer the UK needs as Prime Minister. You’d never believe Kier was a human rights lawyer.
Its quite funny this lawyer confuses two things
While people are in prison- he considers them to be potentially innocent.
But when they are released- he refers to them as innocent (rather than found innocent).
He then cites how inaccurate the legal system is.
98% of guantamino released doesnt mean 98% are innocent. It just means they dont have sufficient proof.
Hes a very kind man. I wonder how he would respond if his family were victims of those he represented ?
K who’s gonna make the tv show off this man’s life??! 👀 with his input, made as accurate as possible.
This was so heavy and fascinating
Sometimes listening to people talk it’s like they can’t comprehend that the state would or could get it wrong. It’s like they don’t want to believe it or the thought is too upsetting for them. I find that fascinating.
Let's give a thought for the victims and their families.. I know what retribution I would want if my family was ever impacted by an abominable crime.
Isn’t life imprisonment not enough?
@@stucodyno, why should they live when they made the choice to murder.
@@cllk115 because 1 in 8 are actually innocent. Are you happy with that level of collateral damage? Is the death penalty really worth that?
@@FionaAlison444 maybe the focus could be on solving that issue instead of if they get life or death
@@ouroborosnagyok9306That issue will always exist
Excellent guest. But the interviewer lost the opportunity to ask about tricky stuff... like what is his view on applying DP to a proven guilty serial killer, ped0phile etc
One thing about human behaviour we don't become so attached to someone who has committed a crime upon s victim we never knew. If this guy had his wife and children butchered and no reason for the motive. Then you feel it.personaly
This is fascinating
This man deserves worldwide respect…
A lesson in where our moral compass should be. Thank you
Some folks are just too nice to understand that sometimes death is the only guarantee that a prisoner will never offend again.
No it isn't. Life in prison is. Some folks are just too uncaring about all the innocent people that have been killed. Unless you're willing to accept yourself or a loved one as collateral damage , you shouldn't support killing
And some folks are just too blood thirsty to understand that just because someone is convicted doesn't mean they ever offended in the first place.
@@CyanideSunshineswhy should we pay for them to live when they made the choice to commit a crime bad enough to warrant the death penalty?
Love what he’s doing but can’t agree with his politics….which leaves me conflicted. Great episode LB.
Love your stance, ethics and dedication. The DP is just plain wrong. What a wonderful human you are Clive❤ My thanks and best wishes.
This guy is the man. Tells it how it is.
What a great articulate genuine person, he also looks like Louis Theroux's dad
You're a legend dude
Im a forensic psychiatrist and wish all attorneys had this man's attitude
Love it. Great spirit right here. Authenticity defined.
The last cigarette story is crazy 😂
Wow, Clive, you are an absolute hero
For those innocent people who have been wrongfully put to death, it is wrong but those who have committed a sick, pre-meditated murder to a child or someone innocent that didn’t have any connection to their killer- could you look those genuine victims in the eyes or their family and tell them the death sentence is wrong? Genuinely curious on the take on this- not hating
yes
I think he clearly stated his position - killing people is always wrong, that doesn't make the world a better place
What a thoroughly interesting and decent man.
Thank you Clive Stafford Smith
I've met this man!!! Such a great role model
Thank you for what you do!
Awesome human being!
I empathise with this guy, he is obviously a good man who cares for people and always tries to find the best in them. On the other hand, he is biased because of the personal contact. The people he represents are murderers, rapists, liars, generally people who can never walk on the street. They chose their path and they received consequences. Overall, I wish nothing but the best for him ~
Nice way of putting it. I agree…
Many of us, and I imagine this guy, still think the death penalty is a fate that even the worst people alive don't deserve for several reasons, remember that!
Sorry but you clearly didn't watch the whole video before commenting this. He states very clearly that in some places over half the people who go on death row are innocent. And even those who aren't, it's not like he's releasing them "on the streets", he just doesn't think that doing to these people the same thing they did to others is gonna bring society any good.
Its your own bias to believe that just because people did terrible things that you can torture them, yes torture not humanely killed from electrocution. But on the other hand, some innocent people get killed anyway. So you really feel a few innocent people's time and life being unfairly prosecuted is worth making sure horrible people don't exist?
It seems you didn't spend that much time thinking about it.
@@soonlet4977 I actually spend a lot of time thinking about this issue. No justice is perfect and never will be. Just because people slip through the cracks or people get wrongfully sentenced doesn't mean we should stop enforcing the law and its punishments. He will tell you that half of these people are innocent. Based on what? It's based on their words, nothing else. If they had a proof, I'm sure he would immediately defend them and got them out of the death row. Some people deserve the punishment, it's ok if you disagree.
1. “Worst 15 mins”
What about pre- meditation?
2. When someone starts using extreme terms to address their opponents… question their bias.
Disprove him wrong then. Tell us about how nice and misunderstood those Fascists are
No mention of the killers victims though is there
Killing is wrong no matter how you do it.
@@CyanideSunshines heinrich himmler deserved to live?
They don't care as much about your guilt as how much you cooperate & whether or not you accept their plea deal
Truly fascinating man.
He discounts what these people did to their victims! It was way worse what their victims went through. This guy talks like they are good guys!
What an amazing man. I wish more people had this outlook on the world, especially the death penalty. Horrific.