The New York Times Magazine recently explored the life of Stanley Williams, an original founder of the “Crips” gang and a convicted murderer who has been on death row in San Quentin prison for more than two decades:
It isn’t easy to reconcile the image of the new Stanley Williams, a children’s-book author and youth advocate, with that of the old Stanley Williams, a gang leader and convicted murderer. The arc of his life raises fundamental, perennial questions about human nature: Is character fixed or mutable? Can a person who is capable of tremendous harm also be capable of tremendous good?
(The New York Times Magazine, August 10, 2003). See Resources.
Citation Guide
- Death Penalty Information Center (2025, March 14). NEW RESOURCE: Magazine Highlights Life on Death Row of "Crips" Founder. Retrieved October 3, 2026, from https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/new-resource-magazine-highlights-life-on-death-row-of-crips-founder
- Death Penalty Information Center. “NEW RESOURCE: Magazine Highlights Life on Death Row of ‘Crips’ Founder.” Last modified March 14, 2025. Accessed October 3, 2026. https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/new-resource-magazine-highlights-life-on-death-row-of-crips-founder.
- Death Penalty Information Center. “NEW RESOURCE: Magazine Highlights Life on Death Row of ‘Crips’ Founder.” Death Penalty Information Center, 14 Mar. 2025, https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/new-resource-magazine-highlights-life-on-death-row-of-crips-founder. Accessed 3 Oct. 2026.