Subject: Re: From time to time I get the questions in advance
From: Betsaida Alcantara <[email-masked]>
To: Jennifer Palmieri <[email-masked]>
Cc: Donna Brazile <[email-masked]>, "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>, Minyon Moore <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 12 Mar 2016 17:02:56 -0500

Here's death penalty:

*DEATH PENALTY *

*YOU have said recently that YOU support the death penalty. Can YOU clarify
YOUR position?*

·        For the federal government, no, I don’t think we should abolish
the death penalty entirely. But I do think it should be reserved as an
option for the most serious crimes, or for acts of terrorism, like the
Boston Marathon bomber. Remember, I was the Senator from New York on
September 11. And I was First Lady when the Oklahoma City bomber killed 168
people, including 19 children.  I met their parents. I saw what was done.
Because of acts of terror like these, I think about the federal death
penalty differently.

·        But we know the death penalty has too often been applied in a
discriminatory way at the state level. African-Americans are far more
likely than whites to face the death penalty than whites. States have
almost certainly executed inmates who were innocent of the crimes for which
they’d been put on death row. And it’s profoundly wrong for states to
‘experiment’ with different cocktails of lethal injection drugs because of
shortages. Our Constitution is supposed to protect against cruel and
unusual punishment. And the Supreme Court recently even stayed an execution
because of this issue.

·        So I think states need to look carefully at whether they should
continue the policy. At how it’s been applied, and whether there are
discriminatory effects—particularly for African-Americans. And to do more
to allow inmates to pursue claims of actual innocence. There is nothing
more unjust and unacceptable than imposing the death penalty on someone who
is innocent of the crime. And I want to incentivize every state to put in
place procedures for inmates to petition for post-conviction DNA testing.

On Sat, Mar 12, 2016 at 4:41 PM, Jennifer Palmieri <
[email-masked]> wrote:

> Hi.  Yes, it is one she gets asked about.  Not everyone likes her answer
> but can share it.
>
> Betsaida - can you send her answer on death penalty?
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Mar 12, 2016, at 4:39 PM, Donna Brazile <[email-masked]>
> wrote:
>
> Here's one that worries me about HRC.
>
> DEATH PENALTY
>
>
>
> 19 states and the District of Columbia have banned the death penalty. 31
> states, including Ohio, still have the death penalty. According to the
> National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, since 1973, 156 people
> have been on death row and later set free. Since 1976, 1,414 people have
> been executed in the U.S. That’s 11% of Americans who were sentenced to
> die, but later exonerated and freed. Should Ohio and the 30 other states
> join the current list and abolish the death penalty?
>
> Sent from Donna's I Pad. Follow me on twitter @donnabrazile
>
>

-- 
Betsaida Alcantara | Communications
Hillary for America