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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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Alabama Gov. Riley plans to sign bill to increase the number of witnesses

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Alabama Gov. Bob Riley plans to sign a bill into law in time to allow six siblings to witness the scheduled Thursday execution of their mother's convicted killer.

The measure, passed last week by the Legislature, would increase from 2 to 6 the number of immediate family members of a crime victim who can witness the perpetrator's execution. The measure would extend the same right to immediate family members of the inmate condemned to death.

"The governor plans to sign this bill as soon as it is transmitted to our office on Thursday morning," Riley spokesman Jeff Emerson said in an e-mail. "It takes effect immediately, which means it would be in effect for the execution scheduled for Thursday evening."

Willie McNair of Abbeville is scheduled to die by lethal injection Thursday evening at Holman Correctional Facility. McNair has been on Death Row since 1991, having been sentenced to death for the 1990 robbery-murder of Ella Foy Riley in her Abbeville home.

Until the witness bill passed the Legislature, Riley's daughter, Pat Jones, and her youngest brother Wayne had planned to watch McNair's execution. If Riley signs the bill as planned, 4 other Riley siblings - Calvin, Don, John and Bobby - also are expected to be witnesses.

Source: Birmingham News, May 12, 2009
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Iran: 27 executions in three days

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