Obama Administration Backs Away From Ending Federal Death Penalty

Obama Administration Backs Away From Ending Federal Death Penalty
US President Barack Obama pauses while speaking during a joint press conference with Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the Rose Garden of the White House on April 28, 2015 in Washington, DC. AFP PHOTO/MANDEL NGAN (Photo credit should read MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)
US President Barack Obama pauses while speaking during a joint press conference with Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the Rose Garden of the White House on April 28, 2015 in Washington, DC. AFP PHOTO/MANDEL NGAN (Photo credit should read MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — For a moment last year, it looked as if the Obama administration was moving toward a history-making end to the federal death penalty.

A botched execution in Oklahoma brought national attention to the issue, public opinion polls began to shift and President Obama, declaring that it was time to “ask ourselves some difficult and profound questions,” directed Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to review capital punishment.

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