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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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Man hanged in Zanjan, western Iran

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Iran Human Rights, January 30: One prisoner was hanged in the prison Zanjan (western Iran) early this morning Monday January 30.

According to the state run Iranian news agency Fars, the man who was not identified by name was convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to death by the revolutionary court in Abhar. 

No further details were given in the report.

Source: Iran Human Rights, January 30, 2012
Location: Zanjān, Iran
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