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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Japan | Shizuoka police chief apologizes to Iwao Hakamada after his acquittal
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The chief of the Shizuoka Prefectural Police on Monday offered an apology in person to Iwao Hakamada at his home in Shizuoka Prefecture following his acquittal in a retrial over a 1966 murder case last month.
Takayoshi Tsuda visited the home of Hakamada, 88, in the city of Hamamatsu, bowing deeply for about two minutes.
“I am sorry for the pain and burden I have caused you over the last 58 years, which cannot be expressed in words,” Tsuda said to Hakamada and his older sister Hideko, 91, who fought a decades-long legal battle on behalf of her brother.
In response, Hideko stated, “Both Iwao and I believe (what happened) was destiny. I have no intention of complaining now.”
In its retrial ruling on Sept. 26, the Shizuoka District Court said that investigators coerced Hakamada into confessing, and that bloodstained pieces of clothes believed to have been worn at the time of the crime were planted by investigative authorities.
Tsuda told reporters on Oct. 9, the day when prosecutors waived their right to appeal against the retrial ruling, that he intended to apologize to Hakamada in person.
Hakamada’s death sentence was initially finalized in 1980. But he and his defense team sought a retrial, which was granted in 2023. Hakamada was definitively exonerated when prosecutors decided not to appeal the ruling on Oct. 9.
Japan local police chief apologizes to man acquitted in 1966 murders
A local police chief in Japan on Monday apologized in person to an 88-year-old man who spent nearly half a century on death row before being acquitted in a retrial over a 1966 quadruple murder case.
"I am sorry for the unspeakable burden and trouble we have caused you over the long 58 years from the time of your arrest to your acquittal being finalized," Takayoshi Tsuda, chief of the Shizuoka Prefectural Police, said during a visit to Iwao Hakamada's home in Hamamatsu.
It was the first time that an official of the police or prosecutors has directly apologized to Hakamada, who was arrested by Shizuoka police in 1966 but released in 2014 after new evidence cast doubt on his conviction.
Recognized the same year as the world's longest-serving death row prisoner, he was acquitted in a retrial in September, with the verdict finalized earlier this month when prosecutors decided not to appeal.
His 91-year-old sister Hideko, who was at the meeting, told Tsuda, "Now I think it was fate. At this point, I have no intention of making complaints to the police. Thank you very much for coming all the way here today."
Hakamada has difficulties communicating with others after his mental state deteriorated during his years of incarceration on death row.
Speaking to reporters following the meeting, Tsuda again apologized, saying "coercive and intimidating interrogation" had been used against Hakamata. "We will conduct more thorough and appropriate investigations in the future," he said.
In its Sept. 26 ruling acquitting Hakamada, the Shizuoka District Court said investigators had fabricated evidence, including five pieces of clothing Hakamada allegedly wore during the incident. The items played a key role in his conviction.
The court also said his confession during questioning was "forced by inflicting physical and mental pain," calling his interrogation "inhumane."
The ruling was finalized on Oct. 9, marking an end to his family's decades-long struggle for justice.
Tsuda's visit to Hakamada came after he had told reporters he intended to offer him an apology in person and that the prefectural police were "sorry that Mr. Hakamdta was placed in an unstable legal status for a long time."
His remark followed a similar statement issued by Prosecutor General Naomi Unemoto apologizing to Hakamada.
The former professional boxer was a live-in employee at a miso maker when he was arrested for allegedly killing the firm's senior managing director, his wife and two of their children. They were found dead from stab wounds at their house in Shizuoka Prefecture, which had been burned down.
Indicted for murder, robbery and arson, his death sentence was finalized in 1980.
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During the seven years I spent portraying President Josiah "Jed" Bartlet on The West Wing , I developed deep respect for the presidency and the monumental challenges its real-life officeholders confront every day. Recent news about President Biden’s exercise of his clemency power has drawn my memory to one of the most difficult “decisions” I made as President Bartlet—one that has stayed in my mind over the ensuing years—to deny clemency to a federal prisoner and allow his execution to proceed.
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.
