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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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Belarus closer to moratorium on death penalty

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March 25, 2009: Belarus is moving closer to a moratorium on the death penalty, a senior judicial official said.

"We have in essence come closer to a moratorium on the death penalty," said Valery Kalinkovich, deputy chairman of the Supreme Court. "The death penalty was carried out on two people in 2008."

Amnesty said in a report that four people were executed last year.

Sources: Reuters, 25/03/2009
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