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What might a new administration mean for the federal death penalty?

By Douglas A. Berman

There has been a some discussion of what new Supreme Court Justices might mean for capital punishment jurisprudence (such as Steven Calabresi's recent assertion that Senator Obama would appoint judges who would pursue the abolition of capital punishment).  But I am yet to see any discussion or even any speculation about what a new presidential Administration might mean for the law and practice of the federal death penalty.  Since both presidential candidates are supporters of the death penalty, I doubt either will seek to abolish the federal death penalty.  But as reflected in likely choices for Attorney General and other criminal justice positions, I suspect the operation of the death penalty could be quite different depending on who exactly is working inside the Oval Office...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on October 30, 2008 (boomark / email).