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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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Yemen: 'Aisha Ghalib al-Hamzi executed

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'Aisha Ghalib al-Hamzi was executed on 19 April for the murder of her husband; all seven of her children had refused to pardon her. In cases of Qisas (retribution in kind) the relatives of the victim have the power to seek execution, request compensation or grant a pardon freely.

'Aisha Ghalib al-Hamzi was sentenced to death for the murder of her husband in October 2003. She had been detained in the Central Prison in the capital, Sana'a. Her sentence was confirmed on appeal in 2007. In December 2008, the Supreme Court in Sana’a upheld the death sentence. The President recently ratified her death sentence. Her execution was scheduled to be carried out on 4 April 2009 but was postponed for two weeks to allow attempts to seek a pardon from the relatives of her husband.

Source: Amnesty International, April 20, 2009
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