• While Governor in Massachusetts Romney filed a bill to
reinstate the death penalty for deadly acts of terrorism, killing
sprees and murders involving torture and the killings of law
enforcement personnel.

• The bill called for substantial scientific evidence such
as DNA verification to sentence someone to death.

• The bill also called for a proper representation for the
indigent from a certified pool of lawyers. It also allowed jurors
who were not supporters of the death penalty to partake in the
guilt phase of the trial.

• He described the bill as a gold standard or model for
the nation in case of capital punishment and said it would give
the state a foolproof death penalty.

• Mitt Romney favors the death penalty in cases of heinous
crimes such as first degree homicides.

• Romney said that the ultimate penalty should be
available in Massachusetts for criminals who commit the most
egregious murders.

• He supports judges who are tough on crime and advocated
tough sentencing for violent offenders and also is for the 'three
strikes' policy.

• Romney did say that the provisions in his bill could not
always rule out wrongful convictions.

• Romney's capital punishment bill turned out to be a
political disaster later on.  The bill was widely opposed and
defeated and Mitt Romney was accused of working towards it to
further his 2008 presidential ambitions.
		

• Obama once opined that the system of investigating and
prosecuting capital crimes was so flawed that the nation should
declare a moratorium on executions, like the one imposed in
Illinois.

• He made a statement in 2004 saying that he supported the
death penalty for certain crimes though he does not support how
it is administered.

• Obama seems to support capital punishment in certain
cases where it is considered absolutely essential. This he
attributes to cases where the crime committed is so outrageous
that the law has no other way to show its outrage except to carry
out the ultimate punishment. As examples he listed mass murders,
the rape and murder of a child etc.

• Obama made a significant effort to establish mandatory
taping of interrogations and confessions. Obama firmly believes
that no innocent victim should end up on death row and at the
same time no guilty person should go free. He made all attempts
to get the bill on the said issue approved, and his state
Illinois was the first to require taping by statute.

• Obama voted no for mandatory killing of gang members who
kill cops.

• In his book 'Audacity of Hope' he says he saw little
evidence that the death penalty is a deterrent.

• Death penalty opponents have a hope that Obama will lend
a sympathetic ear to them despite his support for the limited use
of executions. Their hope is that he will use more safeguards in
Federal cases and eventually spare some prisoners.