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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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China | Former Primary School Principal Executed For Child Rape

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BEIJING, Nov 13 – A former principal of a primary school in Gansu province was executed through lethal injection on Nov 7, following a death penalty sentence for rape and sexually molesting minors.

Jiupai News, a Hubei province-based news portal, reported on Sunday that Zhang Longji, the former principal, was sentenced to death for raping five girls aged 8 to 12 and sexually molesting 17 girls aged 8 to 14.

These crimes occurred during his tenure as a director of teaching and discipline and later as principal in a local primary school in Jingning county, Gansu province.

The Pingliang Intermediate People’s Court, after due legal process, found Zhang guilty of rape, imposing the death penalty along with lifelong deprivation of political rights. He was also convicted of child molestation, receiving an additional 10-year prison sentence.

The court decided to enforce the death penalty and lifelong deprivation of political rights due to the severity of the crimes.

Despite Zhang’s appeal against the court’s decision, the High People’s Court of Gansu rejected it, upholding the death sentence. 

The Supreme People’s Court later approved the decision, leading to the execution on Nov 7.

Local education authorities have initiated assistance and support for the affected students, although specific details remain confidential due to the involvement of minors. 

The affected school has been dissolved and merged with another, as reported by Redstar News, a Sichuan province-based news portal.

Source: China Daily, Staff, November 13, 2023


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Location: Gansu, China
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