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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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Three prison escapees executed in north China

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Three men who broke out of prison and killed a policeman in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in October last year, were executed Tuesday.

Qiao Haiqiang, Dong Jiaji and Li Hongbin were put to death by lethal injection in the regional capital of Hohhot.

Li had appealed the sentence, claiming he was an accessory, but the appeal was rejected by the Intermediate People's Court in Hohhot City. The court upheld his death penalty in August.

4 prisoners broke out of the prison in Hohhot. All were serving life terms.

Police launched a 3-day manhunt for the escapees involving 12,300 officers.

The 4th prisoner was shot dead while on the run.

Source: Xinhua, September 29, 2010
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