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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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Texas has enough drugs to carry out scheduled executions

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Texas Death House, 'The Walls' Unit, Huntsville, Texas
Texas Death House, 'The Walls' Unit, Huntsville, Texas
With the first execution of the new year scheduled next week, Texas prison officials said Wednesday that the state has a large enough supply of drugs to carry out the executions already scheduled for 2016.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice has been forced to find nontraditional suppliers of execution drugs in recent years because the usual vendors refused to make their drugs available following scrutiny from death penalty opponents.

The state was struggling to replenish its supply of the powerful sedative pentobarbital over the summer, but was able to obtain enough doses to execute six inmates between June and November.

There are nine lethal injections scheduled this year.

"The agency's supply of pentobarbital was purchased from a licensed pharmacy that has the ability to compound," TDCJ spokesman Jason Clark said Wednesday.

There is one more execution scheduled this month, one in February, three in March, two in April and one in June.

Condemned murderer Richard Masterson is set to be put to death Jan. 20 for the 2001 slaying of female impersonator Darrin Honeycutt in Houston. Masterson strangled the victim and stole his vehicle following the murder.

One of the inmates scheduled to die this year is Robert Pruett, who was given a new execution date this week. His lethal injection has been set for April 27.


Source: The Item, Cody Stark, January 14, 2016

- Report an error, an omission: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com - Follow us on Facebook and Twitter
Location: Huntsville, TX, USA
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