Hello, a short thread about this story, which I published yesterday: theintercept.com/2019/07/29/dea…
First, it’s about much more than politics, but some folks have taken umbrage at the framing/headline, as if I’m saying Dems are the ones REALLY to blame for Trump restarting executions. I invite those people to read the piece. Plenty of blame to go around. theintercept.com/2019/07/29/dea…
But if you’re mad I’m pointing out that the vast majority of people on federal death row are there bc of the 1994 Crime Bill, well, sorry. As one dp lawyer said, we’re only just starting to reckon w/the crime bill. “And we haven’t reckoned with the death penalty aspects” til now.
The good news: Dems have finally turned against the death penalty--a huge and recent shift. Hillary supported it (I wrote about that here: theintercept.com/2016/03/17/hil…) So did Obama. Federal death row is a small fraction of our system but it's where a president can have actual impact.
And when I say Dems: all major 2020 candidates claim to oppose it. Even Biden (lol). Several slammed Trump's move to restart executions. Great. So someone should ask what they’re gonna do about it. Perhaps at a debate! Will you impose a moratorium? Commute all sentences to LWOP?
If they're really against the death penalty, that means opposing it for everyone — including people on federal death row who have committed heinous crimes. If they aren’t willing to take meaningful steps against these executions, then we'll know it’s just empty rhetoric. *fin*
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