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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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Illinois: New Governor Says Moratorium Stays

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February 6, 2009: Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn said he has no immediate plans to lift the state's 9-year-old death penalty moratorium until he's satisfied safeguards are in place to keep innocent people off death row.

Quinn, the former lieutenant governor who last week succeeded scandal-plagued Rod Blagojevich, said he supports capital punishment, but not necessarily the way it has been applied.

No one has been put to death in Illinois since 2000 when then-Gov. George Ryan put all executions on hold, citing more than a dozen cases in which people were improperly sentenced to death. Three years later, the Republican took the extraordinary step of emptying Illinois' death row by commuting the sentences of all 167 inmates to life in prison.

Blagojevich, a Democrat, continued the ban despite approving several reforms, and state lawmakers have ignored legislative attempts to decide the issue. As of today, there were 15 people -- all men -- on the state's death row.

Source: Associated Press, ABC News, 06/02/2009
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Iran: 27 executions in three days

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A woman, four Baluchis and eight Kurds were among those executed The total number of those executed since the beginning of September amounts to 75 The Iranian regime hanged at least 27 prisoners in three days, September 27-29, 2016, in Gohardasht, Orumiyeh, Minab and Khorrambad prisons. Among the eight prisoners hanged together in Orumiyeh, there was a woman by the name of Molouk Noori. Seven other prisoners were Kurds from Orumiyeh. Seven prisoners were hanged in the Central Prison of Minab (southern Hormuzgan Province). They aged between 25 and 30, and four of them were Baluchis. In another criminal measure, eleven prisoners were hanged in Gohardasht Prison (northwest of Tehran). Two of them had been relocated to Gohardasht in a sudden nightly transfer from Khorin Prison of Varamin. The number of those executed since the beginning of September thus amounts to 75. The families of those executed in Orumiyeh staged a protest outside Darya Prison which led ...
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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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USA | Biden commutes sentences of 37 of the 40 men on federal death row, excluding Robert Bowers, Dylann Roof, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev

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President Biden used his clemency authority Monday to commute the sentences of 37 of the 40 men on federal death row to life without parole, in one of the most significant moves taken against capital punishment in recent presidential history. Biden did not commute the sentences of three men who were involved in cases of terrorism or hate-fueled mass murder, including Robert Bowers , convicted for the 2018 mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue; Dylann Roof , convicted for the 2015 mass shooting at a Black church in Charleston, S.C.; and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev , convicted of the 2013 bombing at the Boston Marathon.
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Women Being Sent to the Gallows in Alarming Numbers in Iran

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Many Were Child Brides Hanged for Murder of Abusive Husbands From Whom There Was No Protection  December 18, 2024 — Amidst a huge surge in executions in the Islamic Republic— 862 so far in 2024, the highest per capita execution rate globally—the Iranian authorities are now increasingly including women in those it sends to the gallows. Since the start of 2024, Iran has executed at least 29 women. More executions of women may have taken place that are unknown.
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Trump vows to pursue executions after Biden commutes most of federal death row

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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump promised on Tuesday to “vigorously pursue” capital punishment after President Joe Biden commuted the sentences of most people on federal death row partly to stop Trump from pushing forward their executions. Trump criticized Biden’s decision on Monday to change the sentences of 37 of the 40 condemned people to life in prison without parole, arguing that it was senseless and insulted the families of their victims. Biden said converting their punishments to life imprisonment was consistent with the moratorium imposed on federal executions in cases other than terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder.
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US carries out 25 executions this year as death penalty trends in nation held steady

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HOUSTON (AP) — The number of executions in the U.S. remained near historic lows in 2024 and was mostly carried out in a small group of states, including Alabama, which became the first state to use nitrogen gas as an execution method, according to an annual report on capital punishment. The report by the Death Penalty Information Center was released on Thursday, the same day that Oklahoma conducted the nation’s 25th and final execution of the year. Kevin Ray Underwood received a lethal injection Thursday morning for the killing of a 10-year-old girl that was part of a cannibalistic fantasy.
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Japan | Chisako Kakehi, sentenced to death for cyanide murders, dies in custody

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Chisako Kakehi, a woman sentenced to death for the murders of three elderly men using cyanide compounds, has died, local media reported Thursday. The 78-year-old death row inmate was convicted of murdering the men — with the intent of inheriting their assets — in Kyoto, Osaka, and Hyogo prefectures between 2012 and 2013. Among the victims was her 75-year-old husband, Isao. The other two were men with whom she had entered common-law relationships.
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Vietnam court sentences 27 to death for smuggling over 600 kg of narcotics

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A court in Vietnam sentenced 27 people to death on Friday after finding them guilty of trafficking more than 600 kilos of narcotics including heroin, ketamine and methamphetamine, state media reported A court in Vietnam sentenced 27 people to death on Friday after finding them guilty of trafficking more than 600 kilos of narcotics including heroin, ketamine and methamphetamine, state media reported. Gang leader and notorious female crime boss Vu Hoang Anh, alias Oanh Ha, was among those condemned to death, the Tuoi Tre newspaper reported.
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Saudi Arabia executed 330 people this year, highest number in decades

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Saudi Arabia has reportedly executed 330 people this year, in what rights groups are calling the highest number in decades. According to the Reuters news agency, the latest number of executions carried out by Saudi authorities – based on announcements compiled by the human rights group Reprieve – has reached up to 330 people, in a significant increase from the 172 executed last year and the 196 executed in 2022.
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Iran | Executions in Rasht, Mahabad, Karaj, Nahavand, Roudbar

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Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); December 20, 2024: Mojtaba Jamshidian and Jebrael Naseri were executed for drug-related offences in Rasht Central Prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was executed in Rasht (Lakan) Central Prison on 14 December. His identity has been established as Mojtaba Jamshidian from Khomein. He was sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.
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