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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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California: Robert Alton Harris' execution to be commemorated

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California Gas Chamber
When his friend Robert Alton Harris mouthed "Where's Mike?" from the gas chamber, Michael Kroll quickly maneuvered into the restrained prisoner's line of sight to reassure him. It would be the last time the two saw each other.

Moments later, on that early morning on April 21, 1992, a trembling Kroll couldn't bear to watch as Harris writhed with his last breaths of poison gas. For Kroll, one of California's most active opponents of the death penalty, the event marked the death of a friend. For California, it was the first time the state had executed a prisoner in more than two decades.

Now, with the 20-year anniversary of Harris' execution approaching, Kroll and Death Penalty Focus are working to mark the event.

In a series of events called "Requiem for the Death Penalty," the nonprofit as well as other co-sponsors, including the ACLU of Northern California, are showing a documentary on Harris' execution, "Procedure 769," and holding a reading of Kroll's new play, "Just Like a Dog."


Source: SFGate, Christopher Haugh, April 17, 2012
Location: California, USA
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