USA: BERNIE SANDERS OPPOSES DEATH PENALTY FOR DYLANN ROOF

The Justice Department announced on Tuesday it would seek the death penalty in the case of accused South Carolina mass murderer Dylann Roof. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) opposes the Justice Department's decision to seek the death penalty in the case of Dylann Roof, the accused killer of nine parishioners at a church in South Carolina last year. The Democratic presidential candidate has long been an opponent of capital punishment, arguing that it doesn't fit with America's moral values or deter crime. And though the circumstances of the Roof case have prompted cries for severe punishment, his campaign reiterated his position in an email to The Huffington Post. "Sen. Sanders opposes the death penalty," Sanders spokesman Michael Briggs wrote. "He believes those who are convicted of the most horrible crimes should be imprisoned for the rest of their lives without the possibility of parole." Roof is charged both with federal hate crimes and 9 counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder.