them if they really told people the truth of what they really believe
in their hearts ... It's just like if you didn't believe in a god ...
we might be breaking gender and racial barriers because that's a new
taboo in our culture but we'll never ever see an Atheist for a
canidate or an anti-death penalty canidate or a Socialist
canidate ... We will never see it unless more Americans voted and not
just 50% of America. I guess we can be happy if they at least believe
in golbal warming and evolution (unlike you know who)
Brian
--- In Dems2008@yahoogroups.com, nancy m gibson <nmgibson@...> wrote:
>
> I wonder why neither Hillary or Obama comes out against the death
> penalty.
> We are the only nation in the Western World that still has a death
> penalty.
> It is something I feel strongly about.------------Nan
>
> NEVER COMPLAIN AND NEVER EXPLAIN: MOVE IMMEDIATELY
> TO ATTACK---------------from The Lion & The Unicorn
>
>
> The candidates on the legal justice system
> COMMENTARY | April 03, 2008
> Where McCain, Clinton, Obama stand on the death penalty, crack
cocaine
> sentencing, minimum sentencing and other issues.
> By Nonna Gorilovskaya
> nonna@...
> Some 2.3 million Americans—more than one in every hundred adults—
are in
> prison or in jail this election year. This unflattering record
hasn't
> prompted much debate between the presidential candidates on the
criminal
> justice system, or many questions from reporters, either. The
> Washington-based Sentencing Project, a nonprofit organization that
urges
> reform, charts out the positions of John McCain, Hillary Clinton and
> Barack Obama on issues such as the death penalty and mandatory
minimum
> sentences in a report issued in March. McCain is the most status
quo of
> the three, while Clinton and Obama have come out for and helped
pass some
> legislative reforms.
> All three candidates support the death penalty. Obama's views on the
> subject have shifted in a more conservative direction over the
years.
> "When Barack Obama first ran for the Illinois state Senate in 1996,
he
> said in a campaign questionnaire that he opposed capital punishment…
By
> the time Obama ran for the U.S. Senate in 2004, he was not
advocating
> abolition of the death penalty, but was saying the system of
> investigating and prosecuting crimes was so flawed that the nation
should
> declare a moratorium on executions," according to a San Francisco
> Chronicle article quoted in the report. That position has shifted,
so
> that today Obama supports the death penalty for the most heinous
crimes.
> As a state senator, Obama passed a landmark Illinois law that
required
> the videotaping of police interrogations and confessions in capital
> cases. The report notes Clinton's support as first lady for her
husband's
> 1994 crime bill that expanded the number of crimes covered by the
federal
> death penalty and her advocacy for DNA testing. McCain was against
the
> Racial Justice Act that would have allowed minority defendants
sentenced
> to death to use statistics showing a pattern of discrimination in
death
> penalty sentencing in their jurisdictions in their appeals.
Although the
> Act was passed by the House, Senate opposition meant that it never
made
> it into that same 1994 crime bill signed into law by President Bill
> Clinton.
> The Democrats' focus on the fair implementation of the death
penalty was
> indicative of their concern about the disproportionate
representation of
> minorities in the criminal justice system. Clinton and Obama want to
> eliminate the 100-1 disparity between powder and crack cocaine
penalties
> and are co-sponsors of a bill that would equalize them. This
constitutes
> a more liberal move for Clinton, who told the Boston Globe last
year that
> "as a matter of practical politics" equalization may not be yet
> achievable "but we…ought to be able to get 10-to-1 or something that
> would move us in the right direction." Obama supports the
retroactive
> application of such sentencing changes, but Clinton has stated that
she
> had "problems with retroactivity." McCain's views on the subject
are not
> given.
> Clinton and Obama prefer that nonviolent drug offenders be handled
by the
> drug courts that order defendants to undergo treatment in lieu of
jail
> time. In a 2007 town hall meeting, McCain also said that "we have
too
> many first time drug offenders in prison" and pointed to an Arizona
> rehabilitation program that had "very significant testing
procedures."
> Programs that give ex-offenders the job skills needed for a more
> successful reintegration into their communities have support across
party
> lines. Obama and Clinton are cosponsors of the 2007 Second Chance
Act
> that would provide for more substance abuse counseling and job
training
> to former offenders. The bill was passed in the Senate on March
11th by
> unanimous consent and is awaiting the President George Bush's
signature.
> Obama has also addressed the larger socio-economic problems that
fuel the
> drug trade. "For many inner-city men, what prevents gainful
employment is
> not simply the absence of motivation to get off the streets but the
> absence of a job history or any marketable skills—and,
increasingly, the
> stigma of a prison record. We can assume that with lawful work
available
> for young men now in the drug trade, crime in any community would
drop,"
> Obama writes in his second book, The Audacity of Hope.
> Federal mandatory minimum sentences garnered some attention this
year
> when the Clinton campaign attacked Obama for previously stating
that he
> would have voted against them. The report doesn't offer much
> clarification on the differences between Clinton's and Obama's or,
for
> that matter, McCain's positions. McCain is listed as supporting
mandatory
> minimum sentences for sellers of illegal drugs, Clinton as
supporting
> them for some violent crimes while Obama as once urging to abolish
them
> and promising to "review all minimum sentences and eliminate those
that
> are too harsh."
> The Sentencing Project cites a Washington Times article arguing that
> Obama has shifted on this as well as other issues. "In an October
2003
> NAACP debate, Mr. Obama said he would `vote to abolish' mandatory
minimum
> sentences. `The mandatory minimums take too much discretion away
from
> judges,' he said. Mr. Obama now says on his Web site,
> www.barackobama.com, that he would "immediately review sentences to
see
> where we can be smarter on crime and reduce the ineffective
warehousing
> of nonviolent drug offenders," the paper states. But an analysis of
the
> article by Media Matters for America, not cited in this report,
points
> out that on the same site the senator commits to abolishing
mandatory
> minimums for first-time possession of crack cocaine. Whether this
saves
> Obama from the flip-flopping charge is another matter. More
importantly
> for those trying to differentiate the candidates' positions, how all
> three would address penalties for crack cocaine possession—or any
other
> crime—is unclear from the report.
> Clinton and Obama favor extending the right to vote to former
felons who
> have served out their time but are still disenfranchised in some
states.
> This was one of the provisions of the 2005 Count Every Vote Act that
> Clinton wrote and Obama co-sponsored. The bill never came up for
debate
> in the Senate and is now dead. McCain's position on the issue is not
> given.
> The 12-page report begins with a table of the candidates' stances
and is
> followed by 10 pages of quotes, mostly from the candidates
themselves.
>
> Nonna Gorilovskaya is a researcher for the Nieman Watchdog Project.
> E-mail: nonna@...
>
>
> http://niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fuseaction
>
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