The Candidates on the Death Penalty
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John McCain | McCain supports the death penalty for federal crimes. He has voted to prohibit the use of racial statistics in death penalty appeals and to ban the death penalty for minors. He also supported legislation to allow the death penalty for fatal acts of terrorism abroad and has said he would consider further expansion of capital punishment for other crimes. McCain disagreed with the June 25, 2008 U.S. Supreme Court decision outlawing the execution of child rapists. |
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Barack Obama | Obama has written that he thinks the death penalty "does little to deter crime." He supports capital punishment in cases in which "the community is justified in expressing the full measure of its outrage." While a state senator, Obama pushed for reform of the Illinois capital punishment system and authored a bill to mandate the videotaping of interrogations and confessions. Obama disagreed with the June 25, 2008 U.S. Supreme Court decision outlawing the execution of child rapists. |
