Editorial: Trump’s rush to execute prisoners proves the death penalty is arbitrary
4 years ago

Editorial: Trump’s rush to execute prisoners proves the death penalty is arbitrary

LA Times  

Every presidential administration rushes to rack up a last few accomplishments as it enters its final weeks, but at no time in U.S. history has the race to finish an agenda also included killing a slew of federal prisoners. Since July, when the federal government executed the first prisoner in nearly two decades, it has used lethal injections to kill eight people, and intends to kill five more before President Trump and his attorney general, William Barr, leave office on Jan. 20. Counted another way, were it not for the sudden — and overtly political — resumption of federal executions under Trump and Barr, there would have been seven executions nationwide this year, the fewest since 1983 and part of a clear downward trend from a peak of 98 executions in 1999. Similarly, Alfred Bourgeouis faces execution for the torture and murder of his 2-year-old daughter despite clear evidence that he has been intellectually disabled since childhood, with IQ scores no higher than 70 and evidence that his adaptive performance falls far below norms — characteristics that seemingly should have precluded capital punishment under previous Supreme Court standards. We also hope that Trump and Barr’s cynical resumption of federal executions will stand as yet another example of the inherent arbitrariness of how this country decides whom to execute, and when.

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History of this topic

Biden gives life in prison to 37 of 40 federal death row inmates
Top News
8 hours, 28 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 to commute sentences of nearly all men on federal death row
19 hours, 11 minutes 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 most federal death sentences before Trump term
19 hours, 11 minutes 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 commutes sentences for 37 of 40 federal death row inmates
Top News
19 hours, 11 minutes 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 …

Biden could foil Trump’s plans to resume federal executions
2 days, 19 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 …

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 …

'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 …

Everyone from Richard Branson to the Pope wants Biden to ‘Trump-proof’ death row
1 week, 6 days ago

Everyone from Richard Branson to the Pope wants Biden to ‘Trump-proof’ death row

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. Biden was already facing calls last from opponents of capital punishment to commute the …

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 …

Before it is too late Biden must turn words into deeds on the death penalty
3 weeks, 1 day 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. …

Editorial: Executions of the conceivably innocent are no better than human sacrifice
3 months ago

Editorial: Executions of the conceivably innocent are no better than human sacrifice

LA Times  

Robert Roberson, photographed through plexiglass at Texas Department of Justice Polunsky Unit in 2023, is scheduled to be executed next month for supposedly shaking his 2-year-old daughter to death. In the days before the child’s death, she was running a fever, and an emergency room doctor prescribed an antihistamine that can cause fatal respiratory distress in young children. Opinion Editorial: …

Trump reveals he'll bring BACK the federal death penalty and expand it to cover these sick crimes... do you agree?
3 months, 3 weeks ago

Trump reveals he'll bring BACK the federal death penalty and expand it to cover these sick crimes... do you agree?

Daily Mail  

Donald Trump says he will end the Justice Department moratorium on executions on his first day in office, and use the full force of the law to go after major drug dealers and cop killers. And in an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com, Trump laid out more details of his crime-fighting agenda starting with whether he would reverse the Biden-Harris administration's …

Project 2025 should be a wake-up call to the Biden administration on the death penalty.
7 months, 1 week ago

Project 2025 should be a wake-up call to the Biden administration on the death penalty.

Slate  

A blueprint for a second Trump term issued by conservative groups contains many alarming wake-up calls for progressives. The section of “Mandate for Leadership” dedicated to laying out a program for the future Trump Justice Department locates the discussion of the federal death penalty in a broad but familiar context. It argues that a “disturbing number of state and local …

The GOP Plan For Executions If Trump Wins
7 months, 2 weeks ago

The GOP Plan For Executions If Trump Wins

Huff Post  

LOADING ERROR LOADING During the final six months of Donald Trump’s presidency, his administration carried out an unprecedented execution spree, killing 13 people on federal death row and ending a 17-year de facto federal execution moratorium. “To expand the death penalty would just be a sea change that would affect decades of jurisprudence, and I don’t think there are enough …

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, …

Editorial: Buffalo mass killer should not be executed. What happened to Biden’s promise?
11 months, 1 week ago

Editorial: Buffalo mass killer should not be executed. What happened to Biden’s promise?

LA Times  

Payton Gendron, center, listens as he is sentenced to life in prison without parole. The U.S. Department of Justice’s decision last week to seek the death penalty against the Buffalo, N.Y., supermarket mass killer continues the federal government’s vacillation on capital punishment. Now, notwithstanding Biden’s declared rejection of capital punishment, the Justice Department is seeking a death sentence against Payton …

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 …

Biden’s inaction on death penalty may be a top campaign issue as Trump and DeSantis laud executions
1 year, 4 months ago

Biden’s inaction on death penalty may be a top campaign issue as Trump and DeSantis laud executions

Associated Press  

CHICAGO — Capital punishment could emerge as a major campaign issue in the U.S. presidential race for the first time in 30 years, with top GOP rivals Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis already one-upping each other by touting tougher, more far-reaching death penalty laws. Meanwhile, death penalty foes are poised to draw attention to what Democrat Joe Biden hasn’t done …

How DOJ made different death penalty decisions in the Pittsburgh synagogue and Texas mall massacres
1 year, 5 months ago

How DOJ made different death penalty decisions in the Pittsburgh synagogue and Texas mall massacres

Associated Press  

CHICAGO — Two separate shootings 2,000 miles apart. Justice Department spokesman Scottie Howell said Foster’s claim and other allegations about the section are false, adding that department staff “make all decisions based on the facts and the law and hold themselves to the highest standards.” MENTAL HEALTH, OTHER FACTORS IN DEPARTMENT DECISIONS An Associated Press review of court filings and …

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 …

Biden’s Justice Dept. keeps hard line in death row cases
1 year, 8 months ago

Biden’s Justice Dept. keeps hard line in death row cases

Associated Press  

CHICAGO — Rejon Taylor hoped the election of Joe Biden, the first U.S. president to campaign on a pledge to end the death penalty, would mean a more sympathetic look at his claims that racial bias and other trial errors landed him on federal death row in Terre Haute, Indiana. “It’s business as usual.” Death penalty opponents expected Biden to …

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 …

EXPLAINER: Biden inaction, mixed signals on death penalty
1 year, 11 months ago

EXPLAINER: Biden inaction, mixed signals on death penalty

Associated Press  

In Boston, the Justice Department is pressing judges to uphold Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s death sentence. The Justice Department continues to press for the death penalty in certain cases, even though it has imposed a moratorium that means no federal executions are likely to happen anytime soon. But they will be Biden executions.” A White House email on Wednesday said …

What does Joe Biden's silence on the death penalty mean?
1 year, 11 months ago

What does Joe Biden's silence on the death penalty mean?

Firstpost  

US president Joe Biden campaigned on a pledge to work toward abolishing federal capital punishment. But the Justice Department continues to press for the death penalty in certain cases — even as a moratorium means no federal executions are likely to happen anytime soon In Boston, the Justice Department is pressing judges to uphold Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s death sentence. …

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 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

India Today  

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 …

Oklahoma sues federal prisons for inmate it wants to execute
2 years, 1 month ago

Oklahoma sues federal prisons for inmate it wants to execute

Associated Press  

OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma is suing the Federal Bureau of Prisons for custody of a state death row inmate whom the bureau is refusing to hand over, with the state saying the man’s scheduled execution cannot be carried out in December if he’s not returned soon. A federal lawsuit was filed Tuesday by state Attorney General John O’Connor urging that …

Editorial: The death penalty is wrong — even for racist mass killers
2 years, 6 months ago

Editorial: The death penalty is wrong — even for racist mass killers

LA Times  

Payton Gendron at Erie County Court, in Buffalo, N.Y., where he is charged with the murder of 10 people on May 14. In a parallel federal case, the judge called on prosecutors to quickly decide whether to seek the death penalty. A judge has asked federal prosecutors whether they will seek the death penalty against the white man accused in …

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 …

Joe Biden says he’s changed his mind on the death penalty. Why isn’t he doing more to stop it?
3 years, 1 month ago

Joe Biden says he’s changed his mind on the death penalty. Why isn’t he doing more to stop it?

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 Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “He’s only four times a year put someone …

Federal executions halted; Garland orders protocols reviewed
3 years, 5 months ago

Federal executions halted; Garland orders protocols reviewed

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department is halting federal executions after a historic use of capital punishment by the Trump administration, which carried out 13 executions in six months. Attorney General Merrick Garland made the announcement Thursday night, saying he was imposing a moratorium on federal executions while the Justice Department conducts a review of its policies and procedures. It also …

Federal executions halted; Garland orders protocols reviewed
3 years, 5 months ago

Federal executions halted; Garland orders protocols reviewed

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department is halting federal executions after a historic use of capital punishment by the Trump administration, which carried out 13 executions in six months. Attorney General Merrick Garland made the announcement Thursday night, saying he was imposing a moratorium on federal executions while the Justice Department conducts a review of its policies and procedures. It also …

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 …

Attorney General Merrick Garland orders temporary halt of federal executions
3 years, 5 months ago

Attorney General Merrick Garland orders temporary halt of federal executions

CNN  

CNN — Attorney General Merrick Garland has ordered a temporarily halt to federal executions as Justice Department senior officials review the policies and procedures for the controversial punishment. “The Department must take care to scrupulously maintain our commitment to fairness and humane treatment in the administration of existing federal laws governing capital sentences,” Garland wrote in the memo, citing changes …

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 …

Charleston church shooter making appellate arguments
3 years, 7 months ago

Charleston church shooter making appellate arguments

Associated Press  

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The man on federal death row for the racist slayings of nine members of a Black South Carolina congregation is making his appellate argument that his conviction and death sentence should be overturned. In a lengthy brief, Roof’s attorneys argue that an appellate court should vacate Roof’s convictions and death sentence, or remand his case to court …

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 …

‘This horror has to stop.’ Spiritual advisers to death row inmates decry recent wave of federal executions
3 years, 9 months ago

‘This horror has to stop.’ Spiritual advisers to death row inmates decry recent wave of federal executions

CNN  

CNN — It wasn’t until Yusuf Nur was inside the execution chamber, standing next to a condemned man strapped to a gurney, that he understood why he’d been asked to be present. “At the beginning, it was not clear to me that being a spiritual counselor would entail being there in the death chamber,” Nur told CNN, “and be there …

‘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, …

US civil rights groups call on Biden to end federal executions
3 years, 10 months ago

US civil rights groups call on Biden to end federal executions

Al Jazeera  

A disproportionate number of Black people have been sentenced to death and are on death row, the groups say. Dozens of prominent civil rights groups in the United States are urging US President Joe Biden to reimpose a moratorium on federal executions, saying the practice has disproportionally targeted Black people. Former President Donald Trump had promoted “law and order” during …

More than 80 civil rights organizations call on Biden to abolish the federal death penalty
3 years, 10 months ago

More than 80 civil rights organizations call on Biden to abolish the federal death penalty

CNN  

CNN — More than 80 nationally recognized criminal justice and civil rights advocacy organizations have joined in the call to President Joe Biden on Tuesday urging him to abolish the federal death penalty and commute the sentences of 49 death row inmates to life in prison. While the Justice Department has not scheduled any federal executions since the last of …

Big challenge: Biden is pressed to end federal death penalty
3 years, 10 months ago

Big challenge: Biden is pressed to end federal death penalty

Associated Press  

CHICAGO — Joe Biden, the first sitting U.S. president to openly oppose the death penalty, has discussed the possibility of instructing the Department of Justice to stop scheduling new executions, officials have told The Associated Press. Action to stop scheduling new executions could take immediate pressure off Biden from opponents of the death penalty. Thirty-seven members of Congress urged Biden …

Can Biden abolish the death penalty?
3 years, 10 months ago

Can Biden abolish the death penalty?

Al Jazeera  

On Wednesday, February 3 at 19:30GMT: Joe Biden was the first presidential candidate in US history to run on a pledge to end the federal death penalty and win. Last year marked the first time in US history in which a greater number of executions were carried out at the federal level than in all states combined. Twenty-two states have …

The Supreme Court Was Complicit In Donald Trump’s Execution Spree
3 years, 11 months ago

The Supreme Court Was Complicit In Donald Trump’s Execution Spree

Huff Post  

Illustration: Isabella Carapella/Photo: Getty Images At 1:23 a.m. on Saturday, the Trump administration finished its 13th and final execution. From the Trump administration’s first executions in July 2020 to the final ones last week, the Supreme Court sided with the government every time, repeatedly allowing the rushed killings of people with outstanding legal claims. “This unprecedented rush of federal executions …

Trump administration carries out 13th and final execution
3 years, 11 months ago

Trump administration carries out 13th and final execution

Associated Press  

— The Trump administration early Saturday carried out its 13th federal execution since July, an unprecedented run that concluded just five days before the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden — an opponent of the federal death penalty. Higgs’ lawyers argued it was “arbitrary and inequitable” to execute Higgs while Willis Haynes, the man who fired the shots that killed the …

Trump administration carries out 13th, final federal execution
3 years, 11 months ago

Trump administration carries out 13th, final federal execution

Al Jazeera  

Number of federal death sentences carried out under Trump since 2020 is more than the previous 56 years combined. The US government carried out the 13th and final federal execution under President Donald Trump’s administration early on Saturday just days before President-elect Joe Biden takes office with a promise to end the death penalty. Execution during transition Not since the …

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