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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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Indian President Commutes Eight Death Sentences to Life Imprisonment

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June 15, 2010: in India, eight convicts on death row in two separate cases of murder received the mercy of President Pratibha Patil (pictured), who commuted their sentence to life imprisonment.

Of the two cases, one is related to the killing of five persons, including a 10-year-old boy. Shyam Manohar along with Sheo Ram, Prakash, Suresh, Ravinder and Harish from Uttar Pradesh were given death penalty in October 1997 in this case.

Patil’s decision leaves a list of 21 more pending mercy petitions of a total of 24, three of which have been returned to the Ministry of Home Affairs on request.

The President has so far only cleared those mercy petitions wherein the Home Ministry has advised the commutation of the death sentence to life imprisonment. She still has to give her decision in cases where the Home Ministry’s opinion has been to reject the mercy petition and stick to death sentence for the convicts.

Source: Indian Express, Hands Off Cain, June 28, 2010
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