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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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Oscar Smith Tennessee execution: Gov. Lee issues temporary reprieve to execution

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Gov. Bill Lee on Thursday issued a temporary reprieve to the execution of Oscar Franklin Smith approximately one hour before it was scheduled to go forward. 

“Due to an oversight in preparation for lethal injection, the scheduled execution of Oscar Smith will not move forward tonight. I am granting a temporary reprieve while we address Tennessee Department of Correction protocol," a statement from the governor's office indicated. 

Further details on what the oversight was were not immediately available. 

Lee's decision is the first time he's intervened in a capital case. The move parallels a 10-day reprieve issued by then-Gov. Bill Haslam in 2018 to properly prepare to execute Edmund Zagorski by electric chair. 

Thursday's announcement did not include a timeframe on when the reprieve would end. 

The Tennessee Supreme Court will select his next execution date.

TDOC spokesperson Dorinda Carter referred all questions to the governor's office.

Smith, 72, was scheduled to die by lethal injection Thursday at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution.

A Tennessee Department of Correction spokesperson confirmed Thursday evening Smith would be taken off death watch and returned to his cell. 

SCOTUS denies to hear case


Earlier Thursday, the United States Supreme Court declined to stop the execution of Oscar Franklin Smith hours before he is scheduled to be put to death in Tennessee, his attorney confirmed. 

A federal judge on Wednesday morning denied a push to stay the execution to allow the  courts to further review new evidence. 

In a rare move, a separate plea founded on Smith's religious objections to certain procedures after death was granted. 

"Tennessee is poised to execute an innocent man," federal public defender Amy D. Harwell said Wednesday after the ruling came down. 

Source: Commercial Appeal, Staff, April 21, 2022


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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: Tennessee, USA
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