A bevy of prominent Democratic lawmakers and progressive activists called for abolition of the death penalty in the wake of Tuesday morning’s execution of a white supremacist and convicted child murderer.
Just hours after the execution of Daniel Lewis Lee for the 24-year-old murder, Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D., Mass.) wrote on Twitter, “Abolish the death penalty.” Several of Pressley’s close progressive allies, including Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.) and Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.), repeated her sentiment.
Pressley also refloated a 2019 proposal to abolish the federal death penalty legislatively, writing that “last night’s Supreme Court decision and overnight execution have made it horrifically clear that we need to bring my bill to the House floor for a vote immediately.”
The wave of statements from Pressley and allies reveals an uncompromising opposition to capital punishment on the Democratic Party’s left flank, even in the case of a man who committed his crimes in the pursuit of creating a whites-only country. That opposition puts them out of lockstep with the American people, a majority of whom have supported the death penalty since the 1970s, and two-thirds of whom oppose abolition. – READ MORE
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