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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 | Primary school teacher in Hainan executed for rape and child molestation

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Luo Chongchuang, a man who raped and molested multiple girls for a long time, was executed after China's top court approved his death penalty.

The execution was carried by the Hainan First Intermediate People's Court, where he was convicted of rape and child molestation and given the death sentence.

Before the execution, the court allowed Luo to meet his family members, fully protecting his legitimate rights. The execution process was supervised by the Hainan prosecutors.

According to the court, Luo was a primary school teacher in Hainan, and he made use of the job to rape four girls several times, with the further molestation of 25 others from 2019 to 2021.

Luo was sentenced to death by the court in April last year for the crimes of rape and child molestation. Although he appealed to the Hainan High People's Court, the original ruling was upheld.

In China, a death sentence made by lower courts must be submitted to the country's top court for review. The sentence can only be carried out after it is approved by the top court.

In a statement posted by the intermediate court on Tuesday, the top court said that it agreed with the verdict made and kept by the Hainan courts, noting that facts in the case were clear, the evidence was sufficient, the application of the law was correct, the sentencing was appropriate, and the legal procedures were legitimate.

"Children are our future and hope of a nation, meaning that we must put their protection as a top priority," the statement said. "Chinese courts have always attached importance to minor protection, with severe punishment to people who harm children's physical and mental health, especially those who sexually abuse juveniles."

It added that such harsh punishment will be continued, pledging to give death sentence to criminals who commit extremely serious crimes with no leniency in accordance with the law.

Source: global.chinadaily.com.cn, Staff, May 14, 2024

_____________________________________________________________________








"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: Hainan, China
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