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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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Nevada Supreme Court to hear Dozier death row case

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Scott Dozier
The Nevada Supreme Court has scheduled oral arguments in the cases involving a death row inmate who wants to die and the controversial ballot initiative aimed at preventing local governments from enacting sanctuary city policies.

The state’s high court will hear 60 minutes of oral arguments in the legal challenge to the Prevent Sanctuary Cities ballot initiative at 10 a.m. on May 8.

The proposed constitutional amendment, spearheaded by state Senate Minority Leader and Republican lieutenant governor candidate Michael Roberson, would prohibit any state or local government from implementing policies that would make it a “sanctuary community” that does not cooperate with federal immigration laws.

In January a Carson City judge threw out the initiative, calling it “excessively broad and general,” and said it was likely to confuse voters. Roberson’s group appealed the decision.

The justices will also hear hear arguments in the case of twice-convicted murderer Scott Dozier, who was scheduled to be executed in November and has said he wants to die.

Dozier’s death was postponed after a district judge denied the use of a paralytic drug called cisatracurium and granted a request from the lawyers for the Nevada Department of Corrections to stay the execution as the lethal injection process is reviewed by the Nevada Supreme Court.

The Dozier case is scheduled for 11 a.m. on May 8.

Both cases will be heard at the Supreme Court building in Carson City.

Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal, Colton Lochhead, March 27, 2018


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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde
Location: Carson City, NV, USA
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