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Biden Fails a Death Penalty Abolitionist’s Most Important Test

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The mystery of Joe Biden’s views about capital punishment has finally been solved. His decision to grant clemency to 37 of the 40 people on federal death row shows the depth of his opposition to the death penalty. And his decision to leave three of America’s most notorious killers to be executed by a future administration shows the limits of his abolitionist commitment. The three men excluded from Biden’s mass clemency—Dylann Roof, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, and Robert Bowers—would no doubt pose a severe test of anyone’s resolve to end the death penalty. Biden failed that test.
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Virginia to end face-to-face visits for death row

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Virginia is set to become the 2nd state to eliminate face-to-face visitation for death row inmates in favor of video visits.

State correction officials say the policy will be less intrusive on visitors, less labor-intensive on staff and could lead to expanded visitation opportunities. It will take effect Sept. 1.

Relatives of inmates on death row call the policy cruel and unnecessary.

Of the nation's 35 death penalty states, Kansas was the 1st to require that visits with inmates on death row be conducted by video conference. A dozen states allow contact visits, while 21 others require visitors to be separated by a glass partition. In Ohio, visitors are separated by glass, but there is a slot that allows visitors and death-row inmates to hold hands.

Source: Associated Press, August 21, 2010
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