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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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Florida: Gulf Breeze teen charged as an adult with second-degree murder

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A Gulf Breeze teenager will make a court appearance today after being charged Friday with second-degree murder in the Christmas Eve slaying of his mother, Sharon Aydelott, a teacher at Holley-Navarre Middle School.

William Brandon Aydelott, 17, was removed from the juvenile justice system and charged as an adult after a hearing at the Santa Rosa County Courthouse before Circuit Court Judge John Simon. He was taken to the county jail, but was not being housed with adult inmates because of his age, State Attorney’s Office spokesman Greg Marcille said.

Aydelott is scheduled to be at a bond and probable cause hearing at the Santa Rosa County Jail at 9 a.m. Marcille said the State Attorney’s Office is recommending he be held without bond until his trial.

Marcille said the State Attorney’s Office requested a second-degree murder charge because that is the highest charge that can be filed in the case without the action of a grand jury. Marcille said a charge of premeditated first-degree murder will be sought before a grand jury in early January. Aydelott will face life in prison. Under Florida law, prosecutors cannot seek the death penalty because he is not 18.

Sharon Aydelott was found in her home in the 1100 block of Crane Cove Boulevard with a number of wounds and lacerations on her hands, arms, face and neck, the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office said. She died of wounds sustained after being stabbed with kitchen knives and being bludgeoned with a baseball bat.

According to authorities, William Aydelott, a senior at Gulf Breeze High School, confessed to the killing.

An arrest report said he had “been fighting” with his mother and had moved out in September.

Aydelott is being represented at this time by a public defender.

Source: PNJ.com, December 28, 2013
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