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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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India: Over 20 death row convicts await final word on their mercy pleas

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President Patil
President Pratibha Patil's decision to reject the mercy petitions of Murugan alias Sriharan, T Suthendraraja alias Santhan and A G Perarivalan alias Arivu-convicted for the 1991 assassination of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi-has added fuel to the debate over delay in deciding clemency pleas of death row convicts.

The 3 convicts had filed their mercy pleas more than 11 years ago.

Although the Madras high court has stayed their execution for 8 weeks, questions are being asked over the morality of delaying a decision on their fate for so long.

As of today there are 22 other death row convicts waiting for a final word from the president on their mercy petitions. One of these petitions dates back to 2003.

The President's secretariat, however, says such decisions cannot be taken hastily.

"It's a serious matter of life and death," an official at the President's secretariat told ET.

Articles 72 and 161 of the Constitution give the president and governors of states the power to grant pardons, suspend, remit or commute sentences handed down by courts.

But the president and governors are bound by the advice given by the central and state governments, respectively.

However, the Constitution does not specify a timeframe within which the president or governors are required to decide on a clemency plea.

This leaves room for mercy petitions to be kept in abeyance for years.

Between 2005 and 2008, only one mercy petition was decided by the president, where death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.

In 2009, the Supreme Court asked the government to decide quickly on mercy petitions.

This prompted the government to carry out a review of all pending mercy petitions. The government then submitted the cases back to the president along with a set of fresh mercy petitions.

From November 2009 till date, President Patil has decided 13 mercy petitions-rejecting three pleas and commuting the death sentence in 10 others.

Source: Economic Times, August 31, 2011

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