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Where The Candidates Stand, Part 1: The Democrats

© Glenn Arnold

Although the death penalty is still a hotly-debated national topic, the issue of capital punishment has receded somewhat from defining presidential candidates in the last few elections. However, for the first time since the 1980's, capital punishment has once again returned to the forefront of a presidential election. In this two-part series, we will look at the stances of both the Democrat and Republican tickets.

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Without the fanfare that seems to surround every aspect of this week's convention, the Democratic National Committee quietly removed the section in their platform that supports capital punishment. And the reason for doing this is simple: It is a direct reflection of the presidential candidate. For the first time since Michael Dukakis ran for president in 1988, a major-party candidate for the land's highest office has denounced the death penalty in all but a few select cases.

Amidst Republican claims of flip-flopping, John Kerry has proclaimed that he is against the death penalty, except for certain extreme instances of "international and domestic terrorism." Prior to 9/11, Kerry was unequivocally against capital punishment, but following the events of September 11, 2001, Kerry changed his views and decided that capital punishment is warranted in some cases of terrorism.

Despite his shift in opinion, Kerry has always believed that the death penalty is severely flawed in its application. To back this up, he points to studies that "reveal serious questions, racial bias, and deep disparities in the way the death penalty is applied." In 1996, he voted in Congress against limiting death row appeals and was a sponsor of the Innocence Protection Act in 2001. This act allows for much greater access to DNA testing in all federal death penalty cases. In interviews and debates, Kerry has repeatedly brought up the fact that over 100 inmates were freed from death row due to DNA test results.

Kerry also strongly favors a national moratorium on federal executions and was a co-sponsor of several bills supporting such a moratorium, including the National Death Penalty Moratorium Act of 2001 and a similarly named bill in 2003.

Not surprisingly, Kerry's home state of Massachusetts bans the death penalty. Currently, only 11 other states bar the practice.

In contrast, vice-presidential candidate John Edwards' stance on capital punishment is much closer to President George Bush's views than it is to Kerry's views; while Edwards does agree that flaws do exist in the system, he still generally supports the death penalty. Said Edwards in a 2004 primary debate: "Those men who dragged James Byrd behind that truck in Texas, they deserve

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