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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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Oklahoma set to execute 2 men this month; will be 5th, 6th executions for the state this year

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The state of Oklahoma is scheduled to execute 2 convicted killers this month.

Ronald Clinton Lott is to be put to death Tuesday for the deaths of 2 elderly women in the 1980s while Johnny Dale Black is set for execution on Dec. 17 for the stabbing death of man in Ringling. The 2 men will be the 5th and 6th people put to death by the state of Oklahoma this year.

Lott, 53, was convicted in Oklahoma County of 2 counts of 1st-degree murder for the deaths Anna Laura Fowler, 83, in September 1986 and Zelma Cutler, 93, in January 1987.

Authorities said Lott broke into the women's homes and brutally attacked them, causing broken bones and bruises. DNA samples taken from the victims were matched to Lott.

At a clemency hearing in November, Lott apologized to the victims' families and asked for their forgiveness.

"I'm so sorry for what I've done. And I'd ask them to forgive me," Lott told board members, victims' family members and others during a teleconference from the Oklahoma State Penitentiary at McAlester.

"I caused them so much hurt and pain."

Lott initially told members of the state Pardon and Parole Board that he wanted to waive his clemency hearing, but made a statement after his attorney pleaded with him to do so. He refused to ask the board to spare his life, though, despite his attorney's pleas.

Jim Fowler, the son of Anna Fowler, urged the board to spare Lott's life "and let him rot in that damn cell."

The Board voted 4-1 against clemency.

Black is to be executed Dec. 17 for the 1998 roadside attack that killed Bill Pogue, 54, a horse trainer from Ringling.

Black, 48, said he and others mistook Pogue and his son-in-law, Rick Lewis, for someone they had been searching for. A van carrying the Blacks pulled up to the Pogue's SUV and a fight broke out.

Pogue was stabbed multiple times and suffered broken ribs and punctured lungs. Lewis suffered 13 stab wounds but recovered.

During a November clemency hearing, Pogue apologized for his actions to members of the victim's family and his own family.

"I'm truly sorry. It's been on my mind every single day for 15 years," Black said from the Oklahoma State Penitentiary at McAlester.

The state Pardon and Parole Board voted 4-1 to deny commuting the death sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Source: Associated Press, December 8, 2013
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