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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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Georgia: Baker death penalty pardon observed

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ALBANY, Ga. — Today marks the seventh anniversary of the pardon of Lena Baker, who was executed in Georgia’s electric chair in 1945.

Baker, who lived in Randolph County, held the distinction of being the only woman to be executed by electrocution in Georgia.

She was a black maid who was executed for murder on charges of killing her employer, Ernest Knight, in 1944. At her trial she said that he had imprisoned and threatened to shoot her should she try to leave. She took his gun and shot him

In 2005 Baker was granted a full and unconditional pardon by the State of Georgia, 60 years after her execution. The movie “The Lena Baker Story,” is about her life.

Her nephew, Roosevelt Curry, received the papers pardoning Baker posthumously. The pardon stated the 1945 decision to deny her clemency and execute her was “a grievous error.”

“It was an injustice. It was wrong,” Curry said. “I want to thank the board for the pardon.”

“The truth has never been told. She was abused,” Curry said. “Only God and those two know what happened. Her children spent 60 more years crying for their mama. They are dead now.”

Baker was buried in the Vernon Missionary Baptist Church cemetery in Coleman.

Source: Albany Herald, August 30, 2012
Location: Georgia
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