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NWCorona

(8,541 posts)
Tue May 31, 2016, 12:37 PM May 2016

Hillary Clinton Won't Say Whether She Backs Death Penalty For Dylann Roof

"For nearly a week now, Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign has refused to answer a simple yes or no question: whether she favors the Department of Justice's decision to seek the death penalty for Dylann Roof, who is accused of killing nine people last year at a historically black church in Charleston, South Carolina.

The Huffington Post first posed the question to Clinton's campaign on May 25, one day after the Justice Department made its announcement. We followed up twice that day, and once the day after. We tried again this Sunday and Monday.

The campaign only responded to one of those emails, and did so off the record -- but needless to say, it didn't answer the question.

The Clinton campaign's reluctance to weigh in on the issue stands in contrast to her Democratic opponent, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), whose campaign confirmed that he opposed the Justice Department's decision shortly after it was announced.

Sanders steadfastly opposes the death penalty on moral grounds and on the belief that it does not deter crime, as its proponents suggest. Clinton has said she does support the death penalty in "certain egregious cases."

The death penalty isn't generally a top concern for voters, but knowing candidates' stances on it does provide a sense of how they weigh politics and morality. Learning whether Roof qualifies as an "egregious case" in Clinton's mind would help voters figure out where she stands, but so far, her campaign refuses to provide any clues."


http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/hillary-clinton-dylann-roof-death-penalty_us_574db120e4b055bb1172c1c0/amp

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Hillary Clinton Won't Say Whether She Backs Death Penalty For Dylann Roof (Original Post) NWCorona May 2016 OP
I don't anticipate her leading on this issue, either. n/t Orsino May 2016 #1
She'll let you know Nov. 9th. EndElectoral May 2016 #2
She's waiting for her focus groups to decide what she thinks. The Velveteen Ocelot May 2016 #3
I don't believe in capital punishment. DookDook May 2016 #4
As a sensible centrist I believe it is important Warren Stupidity May 2016 #5
That's a well laid out post! NWCorona May 2016 #7
Fyi NWCorona Jun 2016 #12
This is the issue where I respect Bernie Sanders the most. Nye Bevan May 2016 #6
It's one of the issues I break with Obama as well. NWCorona May 2016 #8
She has to know what the crowd wants her to say before she can answer. Vinca May 2016 #9
This message was self-deleted by its author thesquanderer May 2016 #10
Hillary does not like to take positions on controversial issues. thesquanderer May 2016 #11
Of course she does - "we came, we saw, he dies, ha, ha, ha!" Attorney in Texas Jun 2016 #13

DookDook

(166 posts)
4. I don't believe in capital punishment.
Tue May 31, 2016, 12:48 PM
May 2016

I would like to be able to elect a president who also shares this belief. Wonder how best I can express this sentiment come November?

 

Warren Stupidity

(48,181 posts)
5. As a sensible centrist I believe it is important
Tue May 31, 2016, 01:28 PM
May 2016

for our candidates to not take clear positions on issues like this. Frequently the ethical and the expedient are in conflict and we must not let what is the right thing to do get in the way. Was it the right thing to do for Bill Clinton to extoll the execution of Ricky Ray Rector while he was running for president despite Rector's severe brain damage? No of course not. That was ethically vile. But it helped propel Clinton into the White House by appealing to racist authoritarian white voters.

It is this sort of adept expediency over simple minded ethical behavior that makes me yet another sensible centrist for Clinton.

Nye Bevan

(25,406 posts)
6. This is the issue where I respect Bernie Sanders the most.
Tue May 31, 2016, 01:30 PM
May 2016

I'm disappointed in Barack Obama's and Hillary Clinton's continued support for the death penalty.

Response to NWCorona (Original post)

thesquanderer

(11,955 posts)
11. Hillary does not like to take positions on controversial issues.
Tue May 31, 2016, 01:50 PM
May 2016

And when she does, she usually allows an opening for wiggle room.

Maybe it comes from a history of taking positions in the past that she ended up reversing.

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