US President Joe Biden commutes sentences for 37 of 40 federal death row inmates
19 hours, 23 minutes ago

US President Joe Biden commutes sentences for 37 of 40 federal death row inmates

Hindustan Times  

US President Joe Biden on Monday commuted the death sentences of 37 of 40 federal inmates, taking action ahead of the return of Donald Trump who oversaw a sweeping number of lethal injections during his first term. "I am commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 individuals on federal death row to life sentences without the possibility of parole," he said. The three inmates who will remain on federal death row include Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who helped carry out the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, and Dylann Roof, an avowed white supremacist who in 2015 shot and killed nine Black churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina. Trump death penalty expansion Biden campaigned for the White House as an opponent of the death penalty, and the Justice Department issued a moratorium on its use at the federal level after he became president.

Death Trump Penalty Biden Federal Joe Biden Death Row Row Lethal Injection Federal Death Row  penalty  death  moratorium  commutes  federal  row  prison  joe  president  inmates  states  sentences  trump  biden  40

History of this topic

Biden death penalty: The president just made a huge defensive move against Trump. It’s what he didn’t do that’s telling.
9 hours, 18 minutes ago

Biden death penalty: The president just made a huge defensive move against Trump. It’s what he didn’t do that’s telling.

Slate  

Sign up for the Slatest to get the most insightful analysis, criticism, and advice out there, delivered to your inbox daily. Stevenson commended Biden “for recognizing that we don’t have to kill people to show that killing is wrong, that we can and should reduce violence in our communities by refusing to sanction more violence and killing in our courts …

Biden commutes sentences for 37 of 40 federal death row inmates
18 hours, 11 minutes ago

Biden commutes sentences for 37 of 40 federal death row inmates

Raw Story  

U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday commuted the death sentences of 37 of 40 federal inmates, taking action ahead of the return of Donald Trump who oversaw a sweeping number of lethal injections during his first term. The move leaves only a handful of high-profile killers who acted out of hate or terrorism facing the federal death penalty -- for …

Biden gives life in prison to 37 of 40 federal death row inmates
Top News
19 hours, 14 minutes ago

Biden gives life in prison to 37 of 40 federal death row inmates

Deccan Chronicle  

Washington: President Joe Biden announced on Monday that he is commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 people on federal death row, converting their punishments to life imprisonment mere weeks before President-elect Donald Trump, an outspoken proponent of expanding capital punishment, takes office. While running for president in 2020, Biden's campaign website said he would work to pass legislation …

Biden gives life in prison to 37 of 40 federal death row inmates before Trump can resume executions
19 hours, 57 minutes ago

Biden gives life in prison to 37 of 40 federal death row inmates before Trump can resume executions

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Monday announced that he is commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 people on federal death row, converting their punishments to life imprisonment just weeks before President-elect Donald Trump, an outspoken proponent of expanding capital punishment, takes office. While running for president in 2020, Biden’s campaign website said he would “work to pass …

Biden commutes sentences of 37 federal death row prisoners
1 day, 5 hours ago

Biden commutes sentences of 37 federal death row prisoners

NPR  

Biden commutes sentences of 37 federal death row prisoners toggle caption Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images President Biden used his clemency authority Monday to commute the sentences of 37 of the 40 men on federal death row to life without parole, in one of the most significant moves taken against capital punishment in recent presidential history. Citing his experience as …

Biden commutes most federal death sentences before Trump term
1 day, 5 hours ago

Biden commutes most federal death sentences before Trump term

Al Jazeera  

White House says 37 of 40 inmates on federal death row will face life in prison instead. United States President Joe Biden has commuted the sentences of 37 of the 40 people on federal death row in his weeks in office before the second term of President-elect Donald Trump. The case has long attracted attention for what Amnesty International has …

Biden to commute sentences of nearly all men on federal death row
1 day, 5 hours ago

Biden to commute sentences of nearly all men on federal death row

Politico  

“Make no mistake: I condemn these murderers, grieve for the victims of their despicable acts, and ache for all the families who have suffered unimaginable and irreparable loss,” Biden said in a statement Monday. “But guided by my conscience and my experience as a public defender, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Vice President, and now President, I am more …

Biden commutes sentences for 37 of 40 federal death row inmates
Top News
1 day, 5 hours ago

Biden commutes sentences for 37 of 40 federal death row inmates

New Indian Express  

US President Joe Biden on Monday commuted the death sentences of 37 of 40 federal inmates, taking action ahead of the return of Donald Trump who oversaw a sweeping number of lethal injections during his first term. With less than a month left in office, Biden had faced growing calls from death penalty opponents to commute the sentences of those …

Dozens of death row inmates may see sentences commuted by Joe Biden: report
3 days, 5 hours ago

Dozens of death row inmates may see sentences commuted by Joe Biden: report

Raw Story  

Dozens of convicted murderers set to be executed by the federal government could see their sentences commuted by President Joe Biden, according to a report. The report comes after Pope Francis earlier this month asked for prayers for federal inmates set to face capital punishment. “Today, I feel compelled to ask all of you to pray for the inmates on …

Biden could foil Trump’s plans to resume federal executions
3 days, 5 hours ago

Biden could foil Trump’s plans to resume federal executions

Politico  

Meanwhile, the Justice Department is also on the verge of publishing the findings of a long-running internal review of the lethal injection protocol that the Trump administration adopted in 2019. “We hope the review will find that the problems with lethal injection are one additional reason as to why President Biden should grant clemency to death row prisoners,” said Ruth …

Advocates want Biden to spare the lives of the 40 prisoners on federal death row
4 days, 5 hours ago

Advocates want Biden to spare the lives of the 40 prisoners on federal death row

NPR  

Advocates want Biden to spare the lives of the 40 prisoners on federal death row Anti-death penalty advocates hope President Biden will grant clemency to 40 people on federal death row. A growing number of groups have asked the president to spare the lives of the 40 prisoners on federal death row by commuting their sentences, too. CHIARA EISNER, BYLINE: …

Biden Could Block Another Trump Execution Spree
1 week, 3 days ago

Biden Could Block Another Trump Execution Spree

Huff Post  

LOADING ERROR LOADING During his final six months as president, Donald Trump’s administration carried out an unprecedented execution spree, killing 13 people. With the stroke of a pen, Biden could commute every federal death sentence to life in prison and block the incoming Trump administration from carrying out its stated mass killing agenda. At the same time, Justice Department lawyers …

Biden commutes roughly 1,500 sentences and pardons 39 people in biggest single-day act of clemency
Top News
1 week, 4 days ago

Biden commutes roughly 1,500 sentences and pardons 39 people in biggest single-day act of clemency

Deccan Chronicle  

Washington: President Joe Biden is commuting the sentences of roughly 1,500 people who were released from prison and placed on home confinement during the coronavirus pandemic and is pardoning 39 Americans convicted of nonviolent crimes. “As president, I have the great privilege of extending mercy to people who have demonstrated remorse and rehabilitation, restoring opportunity for Americans to participate in …

Biden commutes roughly 1,500 sentences and pardons 39 people in biggest single-day act of clemency
Top News
1 week, 4 days ago

Biden commutes roughly 1,500 sentences and pardons 39 people in biggest single-day act of clemency

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is commuting the sentences of roughly 1,500 people who were released from prison and placed on home confinement during the coronavirus pandemic and is pardoning 39 Americans convicted of nonviolent crimes. “As president, I have the great privilege of extending mercy to people who have demonstrated remorse and rehabilitation, restoring opportunity for Americans to participate …

Joe Biden pardons 39 criminals, commutes 1,500 sentences in largest single-day act of clemency in US history
1 week, 5 days ago

Joe Biden pardons 39 criminals, commutes 1,500 sentences in largest single-day act of clemency in US history

ABC  

US President Joe Biden has commuted the sentences of roughly 1,500 Americans who were released from prison and placed in home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as pardoning 39 Americans convicted of nonviolent crimes. The pardons and commutations, announced by the White House on Thursday, mean Mr Biden now holds the record for the largest single-day act of …

Biden commutes 1,500 sentences and pardons 39 in historic clemency move
1 week, 5 days ago

Biden commutes 1,500 sentences and pardons 39 in historic clemency move

India Today  

WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden is commuting the sentences of roughly 1,500 people who were released from prison and placed on home confinement during the coronavirus pandemic and is pardoning 39 Americans convicted of nonviolent crimes. “As president, I have the great privilege of extending mercy to people who have demonstrated remorse and rehabilitation, restoring opportunity for Americans to participate in …

'Should not proceed': Dozens of former judges ask Biden for major act before his term ends
1 week, 5 days ago

'Should not proceed': Dozens of former judges ask Biden for major act before his term ends

Raw Story  

At the end of every presidency, the leader drops pardons and commutations, but former federal judges are begging President Joe Biden to make a strong statement by moving death row inmates scheduled for execution to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Legal reporter Chris Geidner posted the letter to Biden is signed by 24 former federal judges, as …

Anti-death penalty activists say Biden betrayed them
2 weeks, 4 days ago

Anti-death penalty activists say Biden betrayed them

The Independent  

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. But other than that, you know, we did not see the kind of bold …

AOC calls for Biden to commute federal death sentences after Hunter Biden pardon
2 weeks, 6 days ago

AOC calls for Biden to commute federal death sentences after Hunter Biden pardon

The Independent  

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called on President Joe Biden to commute …

Before it is too late Biden must turn words into deeds on the death penalty
3 weeks, 2 days ago

Before it is too late Biden must turn words into deeds on the death penalty

Salon  

In the aftermath of the 2024 presidential election, opponents of the death penalty are mounting a campaign to convince President Biden to commute the sentences of everyone on federal death row. José Gomez, Archbishop of Los Angeles and president of the conference warned that “Our new President has pledged to pursue certain policies that would advance moral evils and threaten …

Joe Biden Can Preemptively Halt One Brutal Trump Policy
54 years, 11 months ago

Joe Biden Can Preemptively Halt One Brutal Trump Policy

Slate  

There are 40 men on federal death row who have been convicted of capital offenses by the federal government going back as far as 1993. Unlike his predecessor, he has not carried out any federal executions, but, as the Atlantic’s Elizabeth Bruenig explains, “neither has he instructed Garland to stop pursuing new death sentences, or to stop defending ongoing capital …

Trump Second Term 'Mortifies' Family Members Of The Executed
1 month, 3 weeks ago

Trump Second Term 'Mortifies' Family Members Of The Executed

Huff Post  

During the final six months of Donald Trump's presidency, his administration rushed to execute 13 people, ending a 17-year de facto moratorium on federal executions. When they’re showing signs of asphyxiation,” said Vialva’s mother, Lisa Brown, noting evidence that the lethal injection drugs can cause the lungs to fill with fluid, creating the sensation of suffocating or drowning to death. …

Biden backed off a pledge to abolish the federal death penalty. That’s left an opening for Trump
9 months, 3 weeks ago

Biden backed off a pledge to abolish the federal death penalty. That’s left an opening for Trump

Associated Press  

Follow live: Updates from AP’s coverage of the presidential election. WASHINGTON — As he prepared to take office three years ago, Joe Biden’s incoming administration considered a host of possible options to fulfill a campaign pledge to end the federal death penalty. Biden’s 2020 position was a change of heart from when he Abraham Bonowitz, director of Death Penalty Action, …

Gunman in racist mass shooting in Buffalo to face death penalty
11 months, 1 week ago

Gunman in racist mass shooting in Buffalo to face death penalty

Al Jazeera  

Payton Gendron murdered 10 Black people at a supermarket in New York state in 2022. Federal prosecutors in the United States will seek the death penalty against Payton Gendron, a white supremacist who murdered 10 Black people during a livestreamed supermarket rampage in New York state. In a notice announcing the decision to seek the death penalty, Trini Ross, US …

Fuller picture emerges of the 13 federal executions at the end of Trump’s presidency
1 year, 2 months ago

Fuller picture emerges of the 13 federal executions at the end of Trump’s presidency

Associated Press  

CHICAGO — A day before the federal government executed a Texas man for the killing of an Iowa couple when he was 18, celebrity lawyer Alan Dershowitz pleaded with then-President Donald Trump — a former client — to call the execution off. The relatives, Trump explained, were on the road to the prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, where federal executions …

Pittsburgh synagogue gunman has been sentenced to die in the nation’s deadliest antisemitic attack
1 year, 4 months ago

Pittsburgh synagogue gunman has been sentenced to die in the nation’s deadliest antisemitic attack

Associated Press  

PITTSBURGH — The man who killed 11 congregants at a Pittsburgh synagogue was formally sentenced to death Thursday, one day after a jury determined that capital punishment was appropriate for the perpetrator of the deadliest attack on Jews in U.S. history. Alan Mallinger, son of 97-year-old Rose Mallinger, the attack’s oldest victim, told Bowers the synagogue would be rebuilt, the …

Pittsburgh synagogue gunman formally sentenced to die
1 year, 4 months ago

Pittsburgh synagogue gunman formally sentenced to die

LA Times  

The 17 victims of the assault on the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh on Oct. 27, 2018. Top row, from left, Joyce Fienberg, Richard Gottfried, Rose Mallinger, Jerry Rabinowitz, Cecil Rosenthal and David Rosenthal; bottom row, from left, Bernice Simon, Sylvan Simon, Dan Stein, Melvin Wax and Irving Younger. “I have nothing specific that I care to say to …

US 2018 Synagogue Shooter Sentenced to Death
1 year, 4 months ago

US 2018 Synagogue Shooter Sentenced to Death

News 18  

An American truck driver was sentenced to death on Wednesday for massacring 11 Jewish worshippers five years ago in the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in US history. Bowers methodically tracked down his victims at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue, shooting many times from close range as he yelled “All Jews must die!” The massacre compounded fears of a resurgence of far-right …

The Pittsburgh Synagogue Gunman Will Be Sentenced To Death
1 year, 4 months ago

The Pittsburgh Synagogue Gunman Will Be Sentenced To Death

Huff Post  

Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting via Associated Press PITTSBURGH — The gunman who stormed a synagogue in the heart of Pittsburgh’s Jewish community and killed 11 worshippers will be sentenced to death for perpetrating the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history. Robert Bowers spewed hatred of Jews and espoused white supremacist beliefs online before methodically planning and carrying out the 2018 massacre …

Pittsburgh synagogue gunman to be sentenced to death in nation’s deadliest attack on Jews
1 year, 4 months ago

Pittsburgh synagogue gunman to be sentenced to death in nation’s deadliest attack on Jews

LA Times  

Jury recommends death sentence for the gunman who killed 11 in attack on Pittsburgh synagogue, the nation’s deadliest attack on Jews. The gunman who stormed a synagogue in the heart of Pittsburgh’s Jewish community and killed 11 worshipers will be sentenced to death for perpetrating the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history, a jury decided Wednesday. Jurors were unanimous in …

Pittsburgh synagogue shooter Robert Bowers who killed 11 sentenced to death
1 year, 4 months ago

Pittsburgh synagogue shooter Robert Bowers who killed 11 sentenced to death

Al Jazeera  

US federal jury recommends that Robert Bowers, who opened fire at Tree of Life synagogue in 2018, get the death penalty. A 12-member federal jury on Wednesday unanimously ruled that Robert Bowers should be executed for the mass shooting at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on October 27, 2018. The jurors found that Bowers’s attack was motivated by …

Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooter Found Eligible For The Death Penalty
1 year, 5 months ago

Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooter Found Eligible For The Death Penalty

Huff Post  

LOADING ERROR LOADING PITTSBURGH — The gunman who killed 11 people at a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018 is eligible for the death penalty, a federal jury announced Thursday, setting the stage for further evidence and testimony on whether he should be sentenced to death or life in prison. The government is seeking capital punishment for Robert Bowers, who raged against …

Joe Biden Criticized For Inaction On Death Penalty
1 year, 5 months ago

Joe Biden Criticized For Inaction On Death Penalty

Huff Post  

LOADING ERROR LOADING President Joe Biden made history in 2021 when he became the first president to publicly oppose the death penalty. Death penalty abolitionists told HuffPost during the early days of Biden’s presidency they hoped he would use his clemency power to commute the sentences of everyone on federal death row as a failsafe against Congressional inaction. In July …

Trial For Accused Gunman In Pittsburgh Synagogue Massacre Slated To Start
1 year, 6 months ago

Trial For Accused Gunman In Pittsburgh Synagogue Massacre Slated To Start

Huff Post  

LOADING ERROR LOADING PITTSBURGH — The federal jury trial of the suspect in the nation’s deadliest antisemitic attack is scheduled to get underway Tuesday morning, four and a half years after the shooting deaths of 11 worshipers at a Pittsburgh synagogue. As an indication that the guilt-or-innocence phase of the trial seems almost a foregone conclusion, Bowers’ defense team spent …

Judge: Synagogue massacre suspect can face death penalty
1 year, 7 months ago

Judge: Synagogue massacre suspect can face death penalty

Associated Press  

PITTSBURGH — The man charged in the deadliest attack on Jewish people in U.S. history has lost another bid to get the death penalty removed as a possible punishment. With jury selection underway at the federal trial of Robert Bowers, a judge ruled Tuesday against a defense motion that challenged the government’s pursuit of the death penalty. U.S. District Judge …

President Biden commutes the sentences of 31 people convicted of drug crimes
1 year, 7 months ago

President Biden commutes the sentences of 31 people convicted of drug crimes

NPR  

President Biden commutes the sentences of 31 people convicted of drug crimes Enlarge this image toggle caption Andrew Harnik/AP Andrew Harnik/AP WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden has commuted the sentences of 31 people convicted of nonviolent drug crimes who were serving time in home confinement, the White House announced Friday. The commutations came as the White House announced a set …

Death penalty looms over Pittsburgh synagogue massacre trial
1 year, 8 months ago

Death penalty looms over Pittsburgh synagogue massacre trial

Associated Press  

The man charged in the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history tried for years to avoid a federal jury trial, which would decide whether to convict him of shooting to death 11 people in a Pittsburgh synagogue. But in a November letter to the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle, family members of nine victims said the attack merits the death penalty, and …

US no longer seeking death for man convicted in Sjodin case
1 year, 9 months ago

US no longer seeking death for man convicted in Sjodin case

Associated Press  

U.S. prosecutors said Tuesday that they will no longer seek the death penalty for a Minnesota man already on death row but awaiting resentencing for the kidnapping and killing of college student Dru Sjodin in 2003 — a case that led to changes in sex offender registration laws. The Justice Department has faced criticism from death penalty opponents for pursuing …

US won’t seek death penalty for alleged Texas Walmart gunman
1 year, 11 months ago

US won’t seek death penalty for alleged Texas Walmart gunman

Associated Press  

Federal prosecutors will not seek the death penalty for a man accused of fatally shooting nearly two dozen people in a racist attack at a West Texas Walmart in 2019. Federal prosecutors did not explain in their court filing the reason for their decision, though Crusius still could face the death penalty if convicted in state court. The prosecutors’ decision …

US President Biden issues pardons for drug crimes, murder
1 year, 11 months ago

US President Biden issues pardons for drug crimes, murder

Al Jazeera  

The six year-end pardons signal shifting attitudes towards domestic violence and drug policy in the United States. That case, involving a defendant named Beverly Ann Ibn-Tamas, is credited with helping to build an understanding of “battered woman syndrome”, the term for a psychological pattern similar to post-traumatic stress disorder associated with survivors of domestic violence. I just knew he had …

US Supreme Court reinstates death penalty for Boston bomber
2 years, 9 months ago

US Supreme Court reinstates death penalty for Boston bomber

Raw Story  

The US Supreme Court on Friday reinstated the death penalty for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was convicted of killing three people and injuring hundreds of others with homemade bombs at the Boston Marathon in 2013. A court of appeals had vacated Tsarnaev's death sentence but it was reimposed by the conservative-dominated Supreme Court in a 6-3 vote. The Justice Department under …

Report: 11 executions in 2021 mark three-decade low
3 years ago

Report: 11 executions in 2021 mark three-decade low

Associated Press  

CHICAGO — States and the federal government carried out 11 executions this year, the fewest since 1988, as support for the death penalty has continued to decline. That’s according to an annual report on the death penalty released Thursday, which was also sharply critical of the Supreme Court and its role in green-lighting executions. Pandemic-related disruptions partly accounted for the …

3 years after Pittsburgh synagogue attack, trial still ahead
3 years, 2 months ago

3 years after Pittsburgh synagogue attack, trial still ahead

Associated Press  

PITTSBURGH — As the three-year mark since the massacre at the Tree of Life synagogue approaches, survivors are planning now-familiar annual rituals of remembrance, the criminal case involving the suspect plods on, and the site is in line for restoration. I can only say for myself, I will always be healing.” The pandemic has also caused delays and logistical challenges …

US attorney general freezes all federal executions
3 years, 5 months ago

US attorney general freezes all federal executions

Al Jazeera  

President Joe Biden, a Democrat, pledged during his campaign to support legislation to end the death penalty. US Attorney General Merrick Garland has ordered a moratorium on federal executions while the Justice Department continues its review of the death penalty, the department said in a statement. “The Department of Justice must ensure that everyone in the federal criminal justice system …

Biden’s silence on executions adds to death penalty disarray
3 years, 6 months ago

Biden’s silence on executions adds to death penalty disarray

Associated Press  

CHICAGO — Activists widely expected Joe Biden to take swift action against the death penalty as the first sitting president to oppose capital punishment, especially since an unprecedented spate of executions by his predecessor ended just days before Biden took office. Support for the death penalty among Americans is at near-historic lows after peaking in the mid-1990s and steadily declining …

On federal death row, inmates talk about Biden, executions
3 years, 9 months ago

On federal death row, inmates talk about Biden, executions

The Independent  

Get Nadine White's Race Report newsletter for a fresh perspective on the week's news Get our free newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent Get our free newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Biden hasn’t spoken publicly about capital punishment since taking office four days …

On federal death row, inmates talk about Biden, executions
3 years, 9 months ago

On federal death row, inmates talk about Biden, executions

Associated Press  

CHICAGO — On federal death row, prisoners fling notes on a string under each other’s cell doors and converse through interconnected air ducts. Biden hasn’t spoken publicly about capital punishment since taking office four days after the Trump administration executed the last of 13 inmates at the Terre Haute, Indiana, penitentiary where all federal death row inmates are held. The …

They were innocent and on death row. The exonerated want to ensure Biden keeps pledge
3 years, 9 months ago

They were innocent and on death row. The exonerated want to ensure Biden keeps pledge

CNN  

CNN — Sabrina Smith was only 17 when a predominately White Mississippi jury convicted her in 1989 for fatally beating her 9-month-old son. These individuals should instead serve life sentences without probation or parole,” according to Biden’s “Plan for Strengthening America’s Commitment to Justice.” Led by Pressley and Illinois Rep. Dick Durbin, lawmakers have introduced legislation and cosigned letters to …

‘We can be sure innocents died’, US death row exonerations show
3 years, 10 months ago

‘We can be sure innocents died’, US death row exonerations show

Al Jazeera  

The Death Penalty Information Center added 11 cases to its “Innocence List” that tracks American death row exonerations on Thursday, bringing the total to 185 and raising concerns over the likelihood more innocents – especially people of colour – will be condemned. “Everybody’s worst fear about capital punishment is that innocent people will be wrongfully convicted and executed,” Robert Dunham, …

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