USA: In party platform, Democrats call for end to death penalty

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoiPKhqWAmQ6xbK5yKOfE9zgVW4p4tiI9HXRNpnBZG1fqw8ImsIPAgKcHzz9fc3XG8aNb-A0sqAQGAMBx50kJwc24d4cPmsg7A-i-gUNTuhnVkkKgUCajVZQ781T63x-E-KVGgRVsl0vc/s1600/Hillary+Clinton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Hillary Clinton" border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoiPKhqWAmQ6xbK5yKOfE9zgVW4p4tiI9HXRNpnBZG1fqw8ImsIPAgKcHzz9fc3XG8aNb-A0sqAQGAMBx50kJwc24d4cPmsg7A-i-gUNTuhnVkkKgUCajVZQ781T63x-E-KVGgRVsl0vc/s400/Hillary+Clinton.jpg" title="Hillary Clinton" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hillary Clinton</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">Washington (CNN) -- Democrats are calling for an end to capital punishment.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The<a href="https://demconvention.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/2016-DEMOCRATIC-PARTY-PLATFORM-DRAFT-7.1.16.pdf" target="_blank"> latest draft of the party's platform</a>, released Friday, says the death penalty "has proven to be a cruel and unusual form of punishment" that "has no place in the United States of America."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The inclusion of the provision represents a victory of sorts for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders -- a longtime opponent of the punishment who has said he is remaining in the presidential race in order to fight for progressive causes.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Sanders offered mild praise for the platform Friday evening, tweeting, "The Democratic Platform includes some accomplishments that will begin to move this country in the right direction."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton has supported the death penalty in the past, albeit on a limited basis, suggesting that there could be cases for "very limited use" of the punishment in "horrific" terrorist crimes.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">She was confronted over the issue during a <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/13/politics/clinton-sanders-democratic-town-hall/" target="_blank">CNN-TV One town hall event</a> in May by an exonerated former death row inmate who spent 39 years in jail for a murder he did not commit.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Where I end up is this, and maybe it's a distinction that is hard to support, but at this point, given the choices we face from terrorist activities primarily in our country that end up under federal jurisdiction, for very limited purposes, I think it can still be held in reserve for those," Clinton said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/13/politics/clinton-sanders-democratic-town-hall-duplicate-2/" target="_blank">OPINION: Exonerated death row inmate: Clinton wrong on death penalty</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">For Sanders supporters, the inclusion of the death penalty provision could be viewed as the latest example of the ways in which the populist candidate has pushed the Democratic Party to the left.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Other provisions in the platform include support for workers earning at least $15 an hour -- though the platform doesn't call for a $15 federal minimum wage, one of Sanders' signature issues -- adopting a tougher tax policy against corporations, expanding Social Security and supporting states that choose to decriminalize marijuana.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Clinton adviser Maya Harris praised the plaform last week, calling it "the most ambitious and progressive platform" the party has seen.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Although Sanders told <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/26/politics/bernie-sanders-democratic-platform/" target="_blank">CNN's Jake Tapper</a> last week that he claimed some "very, very important victories" in the initial draft of the Democratic platform, he also said his camp had "lost some very important fights" on some issues, including trade, a carbon tax and health insurance.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He vowed to "take that fight to Orlando" -- where the committee will meet next week to approve the final draft of the platform -- and said if he doesn't succeed there, he will "certainly take it to the floor of the Democratic convention."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Source: <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2016/07/01/politics/democrats-death-penalty/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a>, Rachel Chason, July 2, 2016</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">- Report an error, an omission:<a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com" target="_blank"> deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a></span> <span style="font-size: small;"> </span> <span style="font-size: small;"> - Follow us on <b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank">Facebook</a> </b>and <b><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank">Twitter</a></b></span></div>

2016 US Presidential election Bernie Sanders Hillary Clinton Terrorism USA USA: In party platform, Democrats call for end to death penalty

Hillary Clinton Washington (CNN) -- Democrats are calling for an end to capital punishment. The latest draft of the party's platform , ...

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Clinton’s quiet support of the death penalty for Dylann Roof

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoiPKhqWAmQ6xbK5yKOfE9zgVW4p4tiI9HXRNpnBZG1fqw8ImsIPAgKcHzz9fc3XG8aNb-A0sqAQGAMBx50kJwc24d4cPmsg7A-i-gUNTuhnVkkKgUCajVZQ781T63x-E-KVGgRVsl0vc/s1600/Hillary+Clinton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Hillary Clinton" border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoiPKhqWAmQ6xbK5yKOfE9zgVW4p4tiI9HXRNpnBZG1fqw8ImsIPAgKcHzz9fc3XG8aNb-A0sqAQGAMBx50kJwc24d4cPmsg7A-i-gUNTuhnVkkKgUCajVZQ781T63x-E-KVGgRVsl0vc/s400/Hillary+Clinton.jpg" title="Hillary Clinton" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hillary Clinton</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">Shortly before her heavily publicized speech on foreign policy -- a speech that was so certain to monopolize media attention that House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) used it as cover for <a href="http://www.gazettextra.com/20160602/paul_ryan_says_he_will_vote_for_donald_trump" target="_blank">his endorsement of Donald Trump</a> -- Hillary Clinton finally gave the Huffington Post an answer to a question on which the outlet had been pressing her.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Last week, the Justice Department announced that it would <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/05/24/justice-dept-will-seek-death-penalty-for-accused-charleston-church-gunman-dylann-roof/" target="_blank">seek the death penalty</a> for Dylann Roof, who is accused of shooting nine people at a church in Charleston, S.C., last June. Bernie Sanders's campaign <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/bernie-sanders-opposes-death-penalty-for-dylann-roof_us_57458ec7e4b0dacf7ad3719c" target="_blank">quickly told</a> the Huffington Post that he opposes the move because he opposes the death penalty. But Clinton hadn't taken a position one way or another until Thursday afternoon. At that point, right before the big speech, a spokesman <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/hillary-clinton-supports-death-penalty-for-dylann-roof_us_57507737e4b0c3752dccde7c" target="_blank">told</a> HuffPo that "she respects the Justice Department decision."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In other words, that she supports the use of the death penalty in the case.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">That's out of step with the most liberal wing of the Democratic Party. Most Americans support the death penalty, even as support for the tactic <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/11/02/use-of-the-death-penalty-is-way-down-in-recent-years-support-for-it-is-not/" target="_blank">has slipped</a>. In the most recent General Social Survey, conducted in 2014, only "strong Democrats," "liberal" and "extremely liberal" respondents were more likely to oppose the death penalty than support it.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Put another way: The people who were least supportive of Clinton in the primary are the ones who likely will most disagree with this move.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It's natural to assume that this is perhaps a move back to the center, after being pulled to the left by Sanders for months. That after having essentially secured the Democratic nomination, she's now taking more general-election-electorate-friendly position on the death penalty that wouldn't have served her well in the primary.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But that's not the case. Clinton has long supported the death penalty. In a debate in New Hampshire in February, she <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/02/04/sanders-clinton-debate-transcript-annotating-what-they-say/" target="_blank">made that point explicitly</a>, saying that, particularly in federal terrorism cases, she thought the use of the punishment was appropriate. "I do for very limited, particularly heinous crimes believe it is an appropriate punishment," she said, "but I deeply disagree with the way that too many states are still implementing it. If it were possible to separate the federal from the state system by the Supreme Court, that would, I think, be an appropriate outcome."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">That debate coincided with the feud between Sanders and Clinton over who was <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/06/02/clintons-quiet-support-of-the-death-penalty-for-dylann-roof-is-a-sign-that-the-primary-isnt-over/wpo.st/bTUd1" target="_blank">more progressive</a>. On a number of issues, including the death penalty, she is clearly more centrist than Sanders, and has been since the campaign began.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So there's a flip side to the question. Why quietly announce approval of the Roof decision when it was bound to be blanketed by other coverage? Because of California.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A Field Poll conducted <a href="http://www.field.com/fieldpollonline/subscribers/Rls2528.pdf" target="_blank">in January</a> found that 60 percent of Democrats in that state thought that the death penalty should be eliminated -- including three-quarters of "strongly liberal" respondents. Clinton has all but wrapped up the nomination, but would very much like to seal her inevitable delegate victory with a victory in the biggest, bluest state in the union next Tuesday. So although her position (a) isn't out of step with her past pronouncements and (b) wouldn't hurt her in a general election, it won't do her much good over the next five days.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Clinton is eager to move on to the general-election campaign. But her quiet acquiescence Thursday serves as a reminder that she can't do that entirely just yet.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Source: <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/06/02/clintons-quiet-support-of-the-death-penalty-for-dylann-roof-is-a-sign-that-the-primary-isnt-over/" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a>, The Fix, Philip Bump, June 2, 2016</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: small;">- Report an error, an omission:<a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com" target="_blank"> deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a></span> <span style="font-size: small;"> </span> <span style="font-size: small;"> - Follow us on <b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/Death-Penalty-News-206848499362906/" target="_blank">Facebook</a> </b>and <b><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank">Twitter</a></b></span>

2016 US Presidential election Bernie Sanders Dylann Roof Federal DP Hillary Clinton Opinion poll Terrorism USA Clinton’s quiet support of the death penalty for Dylann Roof

Hillary Clinton Shortly before her heavily publicized speech on foreign policy -- a speech that was so certain to monopolize media attention...

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