Sanders calls for end to death penalty

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Saturday called for the U.S. to abolish the death penalty, as Arkansas seeks to execute seven inmates before the end of the month.

“Virtually every Western industrialized country has chosen to end capital punishment,” Sanders tweeted. “The United States should join them.”

Virtually every Western industrialized country has chosen to end capital punishment. The United States should join them.

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) April 15, 2017

{mosads}Sanders tweet came moments after a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction Saturday to halt Arkansas’s plan to execute seven inmates before the state’s lethal injection drug supply expires at the end of the month.

All seven executions were scheduled to take place before the end of April with the use of a lethal injection drug called midazolam.

The lawyers for the inmates challenged the short timeframe of the planned executions and the use of the drug, which has been linked to instances of flawed executions.