Bernie Sanders had a powerfully simple message about the death penalty
After Hillary Clinton said during the MSNBC Democratic debate that she reluctantly supports capital punishment, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) drew a contrast. "I just don't want to see government be part of killing, that's all," he said.
Sanders added that he could understand Clinton's stance, saying that "all of us know that we are seeing in recent years horrible, horrible crimes and it's hard to imagine how people can bomb and kill 168 people in Oklahoma City or the Boston Marathon bombing," but too many "innocent people, including minorities, African-Americans, have been executed when they were not guilty." He also said that the world already has "so much violence and killing," and he doesn't believe "the government should be part of the killing. When somebody commits any of these terrible crimes that we have seen, you lock them up and you toss away the key, they're never going to get out. I just never want to see government in the killing."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Boat strike footage rattles some lawmakersSpeed Read ‘Disturbing’ footage of the Sept. 2 attack on an alleged drug-trafficking boat also shows the second strike that killed two survivors who were clinging to the wreckage
-
Elizabeth Gilbert chooses books about women overcoming difficultyThe Week Recommends The bestselling author shares works by Tove Jansson, Lauren Groff and Rayya Elias
-
Turner & Constable: Rivals & Originals – a ‘thrilling’ exhibitionThe Week Recommends Celebration of two of the UK’s ‘greatest landscape painters’ at Tate Britain is a truly ‘absorbing’ experience
-
Boat strike footage rattles some lawmakersSpeed Read ‘Disturbing’ footage of the Sept. 2 attack on an alleged drug-trafficking boat also shows the second strike that killed two survivors who were clinging to the wreckage
-
Trump boosts gas cars in fuel economy rollbackspeed read Watering down fuel efficiency standards is another blow to former President Biden’s effort to boost electric vehicles
-
Hegseth’s Signal chat put troops in peril, probe findsSpeed Read The defense secretary risked the lives of military personnel and violated Pentagon rules, says new report
-
Trump pardons Texas Democratic congressmanspeed read Rep. Henry Cuellar was charged with accepting foreign bribes tied to Azerbaijan and Mexico
-
GOP wins tight House race in red Tennessee districtSpeed Read Republicans maintained their advantage in the House
-
Trump targets ‘garbage’ Somalis ahead of ICE raidsSpeed Read The Department of Homeland Security will launch an immigration operation targeting Somali immigrants in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area
-
Hegseth blames ‘fog of war’ for potential war crimespeed read ‘I did not personally see survivors,’ Hegseth said at a Cabinet meeting
-
Canada joins EU’s $170B SAFE defense fundspeed read This makes it the first non-European Union country in the Security Action for Europe (SAFE) initiative
