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Democratic Party (United States)
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==== Death penalty ==== {{See also|Capital punishment in the United States}} The Democratic Party's 2020 platform states its opposition to the death penalty.<ref name="Protecting Communities and Building">{{cite news |title=Protecting Communities and Building Trust by Reforming Our Criminal Justice System |url=https://democrats.org/where-we-stand/party-platform/protecting-communities-and-building-trust-by-reforming-our-criminal-justice-system/ |website=Democrats |access-date=November 30, 2021 |archive-date=November 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211122151253/https://democrats.org/where-we-stand/party-platform/protecting-communities-and-building-trust-by-reforming-our-criminal-justice-system/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Although most Democrats in Congress have never seriously moved to overturn the rarely used [[Capital punishment by the United States federal government|federal death penalty]], both [[Russ Feingold]] and [[Dennis Kucinich]] have introduced such bills with little success. Democrats have led efforts to overturn state death penalty laws, and prevent the reinstatement of the death penalty in those states which prohibit it, including [[Capital punishment in Massachusetts|Massachusetts]], [[Capital punishment in New York (state)|New York]], and [[Capital punishment in Delaware|Delaware]]. During the [[Presidency of Bill Clinton|Clinton administration]], Democrats led the expansion of the federal death penalty. These efforts resulted in the passage of the [[Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996]], signed into law by [[Bill Clinton|President Clinton]], which heavily limited appeals in death penalty cases. In 1972, the Democratic Party platform called for the abolition of capital punishment.<ref name="1972-Platform">{{cite web |title=1972 Democratic Party Platform |via=American Presidency Project|url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/1972-democratic-party-platform|date=July 11, 1972|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220408133915/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/1972-democratic-party-platform|archive-date=April 8, 2022|url-status=live}}</ref> During his [[Illinois Senate career of Barack Obama|Illinois Senate career]], former President [[Barack Obama]] successfully introduced legislation intended to reduce the likelihood of [[Miscarriage of justice|wrongful convictions]] in capital cases, requiring videotaping of confessions. When [[Barack Obama 2008 presidential campaign|campaigning for the presidency]], Obama stated that he supports the limited use of the death penalty, including for people who have been convicted of raping a minor under the age of 12, having opposed the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]]'s ruling in ''[[Kennedy v. Louisiana]]'' that the death penalty was unconstitutional in which the victim of a crime was not killed.<ref>[http://www.newser.com/story/30953/obama-backs-death-penalty-for-child-rapists.html "Obama Backs Death Penalty for Child Rapists"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090527012457/http://www.newser.com/story/30953/obama-backs-death-penalty-for-child-rapists.html |date=May 27, 2009}}. [[Newser]], June 26, 2008. Retrieved June 10, 2009.</ref> Obama has stated that he thinks the "death penalty does little to deter crime" and that it is used too frequently and too inconsistently.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Candidates on the Death Penalty|url=http://pewforum.org/religion08/compare.php?Issue=Death_Penalty|access-date=July 26, 2009|publisher=[[Pew Research Center]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704020036/http://pewforum.org/religion08/compare.php?Issue=Death_Penalty |archive-date=July 4, 2008}}</ref> In June 2016, the Democratic Platform Drafting Committee unanimously adopted an amendment to abolish the death penalty.<ref>{{cite web|title=Democratic Platform Drafting Meeting Concludes|url=https://demconvention.com/news/democratic-platform-drafting-meeting-concludes/|date=June 25, 2016|access-date=June 29, 2016|publisher=DNCC|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20160802094026/https://demconvention.com/news/democratic-platform-drafting-meeting-concludes/|archive-date=August 2, 2016}}</ref> The 2024 platform is the first since the [[2004 Democratic National Convention|2004 platform]], that doesn't mention the death penalty, and the first since 2016 not to call for abolition.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/democrats-scrub-death-penalty-campaign-platform_n_66c67a0de4b0b9c7b360296b#|title=Democrats Scrubbed An Issue From Their Party Platform β And It's Going Under The Radar|date=August 22, 2024|website=HuffPost}}</ref> However, on December 23, 2024, President Biden commuted the sentences of 37 out of 40 [[List of death row inmates in the United States#Federal|federal death row inmates]] to life in prison without parole.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/12/23/biden-death-penalty-commutation/|title=Biden commutes most federal death sentences before Trump takes office|access-date=December 23, 2024|date=December 23, 2024|first1=Mark|last1=Berman|first2=Matt|last2=Viser|newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref>
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