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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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Accused 9/11 Mastermind Seeking Way Out of Death Penalty

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Khalid Sheikh Mohammed
The accused mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, has, in order to avoid the death penalty, offered to provide testimony regarding his role in the worst act of terrorism in modern US history. 

Mohammed has reportedly agreed to give a deposition to lawyers representing individuals and businesses who are suing Saudi Arabia for billions of dollars in damages due to the Muslim kingdom’s alleged backing of the perpetrators. 

Riyadh has denied any involvement in orchestrating the attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people when terrorists deliberately crashed civilian airplanes into New York City’s World Trade Center and the Pentagon located near Washington, D.C. 

Another aircraft went down in a Pennsylvania field after passengers attempted to retake control of the airliner, which might have been targeting the White House. 

Attorneys said that four other terrorists – two of whom, along with Mohammed, remain detained in Guantanamo Bay prison – had expressed a willingness to allow authorities to question them in the future. 

According to a letter filed in the US District Court in Manhattan, while Mohammed is not agreeing to talk “at the present time… in the absence of a potential death sentence much broader cooperation would be possible.” 

Fifteen out of the 19 al-Qaeda members responsible for the attacks were Saudi citizens. 

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump this week signed a bill ensuring that a compensation fund for 9/11 victims never runs dry, ending years of political gridlock as the number of first responders dying of Ground Zero-related illnesses continues to rise.

Source: themedialine.org, Charles Bybelezer, July 31, 2019


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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: Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba
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