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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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Nebraska lawmakers approve lethal injection bill

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Nebraska lawmakers have approved a bill giving the state the legal means to carry out its death penalty.

The bill would change the method of execution from electrocution to lethal injection. It passed on a 34-12 vote Thursday.

It now goes to Gov. Dave Heineman, who has said he supports the change.

Nebraska has been without a means of execution since February 2008 when the state Supreme Court ruled the electric chair was unconstitutional because it amounted to cruel and unusual punishment.

Nebraska was the only state with electrocution as its sole means of execution.

11 men are on death row; the last execution was in 1997.

Source: Associated Press, May 29, 2009
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Biden Fails a Death Penalty Abolitionist’s Most Important Test

Published
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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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