title:  The Democratic Party Has Never Done This Before, And It’s A Big Victory For Human Rights
text: The draft version of the Democratic Party platform released on Friday evening contains a provision pushing for an end to the death penalty in America. It is something the party has never done before, even though it has fielded candidates opposed to the criminal punishment.Progressives are rightly pointing it out as a considerable move in the right direction.The latest draft of the party s platform, released Friday, says the death penalty  has proven to be a cruel and unusual form of punishment  that  has no place in the United States of America. The inclusion of the provision represents a victory of sorts for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders   a longtime opponent of the punishment who has said he is remaining in the presidential race in order to fight for progressive causes.Sanders offered mild praise for the platform Friday evening, tweeting,  The Democratic Platform includes some accomplishments that will begin to move this country in the right direction. The party platform is not binding, and presumptive nominee Hillary Clinton has not completely come out against the penalty. During the primary debates, Clinton said she believed it had  very limited use  in the case of the most extreme crimes, like terrorist attacks similar to 9/11.The inclusion of anti-death penalty language continues the forward momentum seen over the last few years in which several states have banned the practice.The United States is only one of 36 countries in the world that still has capital punishment. It is banned in 103 countries, and in another 50 countries it has not been used for 10 years while still remaining on the books.Executions have been trending downwards in America over the last few years. In 2009, 52 people were executed, dropping to 35 in 2014 and 28 in 2015. So far in 2016, 14 people have been executed in the United States with the most recent being Earl Forrest on May 11, 2016 in Missouri. Forrest killed two people in a drug dispute, then killed a sheriff s deputy in an ensuing shootout.Featured image via Flickr