For the first time in a long time, crime is not a banner issue in this year’s big election. A quick round-up on where the major party candidates for president and vice president stand on capital punishment. (In alphabetical order.)
Joe Biden – Biden supports capital punishment. Biden was the driving force behind the Violent Crime Control Act of 1994, which created several new federal capital offenses. On the other hand, he opposed a portion of the 1996 AEDPA bill that severely curtailed federal courts’ ability to correct mistakes made by state courts in death penalty cases. Biden’s home state of Delaware has 19 people on death row.
John McCain – McCain supports capital punishment. He believes that it should be used more often, and to punish more crimes. Capital punishment is not among the major issues listed on McCain’s website. McCain’s home state of Arizona has 120 people on death row.
Barack Obama – Obama supports capital punishment in some cases. He is concerned about inconsistent and unreliable application of the death penalty. Capital punishment is not among the major issues listed on Obama’s website, but there is some information here. Obama’s home state of Illinois has 10 people on death row.
Sarah Palin – Palin supports capital punishment. Palin’s home state of Alaska does not have the death penalty, but she has said she would sign capital punishment into law if the legislature passed a bill.
Feel free to put more information in the comments. DW compiled the above from a quick Google search, and would like to know more about all the candidates. DW does not endorse candidates for political office.
September 17, 2008 at 7:45 am |
Barack Obama’s home state of Illinois currently has a moratorium on executions. Although Barack indicates that he supports capital punishment, his voting record as an Illinois Senator suggests a deep concern about the process. He was a major contributor to sweeping reforms in Illinois which require interrogations to be videotaped from beginning to end, does not allow a death penalty verdict in a case involving only the testimony of a jail house snitch, as well as other reforms. He has opposed additional aggravating circumstances and has supported legislation (which did not pass) that would, in fact, lessen the number of aggravating circumstances permitted in Illinois. I would describe his support of the death penalty as lukewarm at best, although I do not expect the public to hear a lot about that this election year.
October 2, 2008 at 4:54 pm |
Though not included him in this listing of “major candidates,” Ralph Nader is poling nationwide at 4 to 5%, and will be on the ballot in 45 states this November. Ralph Nader is clearly opposed to the death penalty. Forgive me for not being impressed by Ms. Foster’s description of Obama’s “deep reservations” about capital punishment. Innocent prisoners have been sent to their deaths while major party candidates dance around the issue, avoiding a real opposition to organized state murder. The really “major” aspect of Nader’s candidacy is his moral clarity and refusal to nuance his opposition to capital punishment. Even “lukewarm” support of the death penalty means its victims are stone cold dead.