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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 | Man sentenced to death for ramming car into crowd, killing 35

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62-year-old man drove his car into crowds, killing 35 people on Nov. 11

A Chinese court sentenced a 62-year-old man to death on Friday for a deadly car-ramming incident that killed 35 people and injured 43 others, according to state media.

The Zhuhai Intermediate People's Court found Fan Weiqiu guilty of endangering public safety after he deliberately drove his car into crowds exercising outside a sports complex on Nov. 11, 2024 in southern China's Guangdong Province, Xinhua reported.

The court also stripped Fan of his political rights for life.

Earlier this week, another court in southern China issued a suspended death sentence to a defendant for endangering public safety in an incident that left 30 people injured, including 18 elementary school students.

The swift verdict in both cases with death sentences marks an unusual pace for such proceedings in China's judicial system.

In China, the death penalty remains a significant aspect of the judicial system, with various high-profile cases drawing attention to its application.

Source: Xinhua, Staff, December 28, 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: Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, China
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