Democratic Party (United States)

==== Death penalty ====
The Democratic Party's 2020 platform states its opposition to the death penalty.<ref name="Protecting Communities and Building" /> 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, particularly in [[New Jersey#Capital punishment|New Jersey]] and in [[New Mexico]]. They have also sought to 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>{{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>
In 1992, 1993 and 1995, Democratic Texas Congressman [[Henry B. Gonzalez|Henry González]] unsuccessfully introduced the [[s:Death Penalty Abolition Amendment|Death Penalty Abolition Amendment]] which prohibited the use of [[capital punishment in the United States]]. Democratic Missouri Congressman [[Bill Clay|William Lacy Clay Sr.]] cosponsored the amendment in 1993.

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>