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 is not only afforded the rights guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States, but is also treated fairly and humanely,” Garland said in the statement on Thursday. Garland said on Thursday that he was directing Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco to lead a review that will assess, among other things, the Justice Department’s 2019 single-drug protocol as well as “the risk of pain and suffering associated with the use of pentobarbital”. Ruth Friedman, director of the Federal Capital Habeas Project, said in a statement that the moratorium on federal executions “is one step in the right direction, but it is not enough.” “President Biden, with the support of the Department of Justice, can and should commute all federal death sentences,” she said.

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History of this topic

Biden commutes sentences for 37 of 40 federal death row inmates
7 hours, 50 minutes ago

Biden commutes sentences for 37 of 40 federal death row inmates

Raw Story  

U.S. 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. The move leaves only a handful of high-profile killers who acted out of hate or terrorism facing the federal death penalty -- for …

Biden gives life in prison to 37 of 40 federal death row inmates
Top News
8 hours, 54 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, 36 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, 36 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, 36 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 …

Dozens of death row inmates may see sentences commuted by Joe Biden: report
2 days, 18 hours ago

Dozens of death row inmates may see sentences commuted by Joe Biden: report

Raw Story  

Dozens of convicted murderers set to be executed by the federal government could see their sentences commuted by President Joe Biden, according to a report. The report comes after Pope Francis earlier this month asked for prayers for federal inmates set to face capital punishment. “Today, I feel compelled to ask all of you to pray for the inmates on …

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 …

Joe Biden pardons 39 criminals, commutes 1,500 sentences in largest single-day act of clemency in US history
1 week, 4 days ago

Joe Biden pardons 39 criminals, commutes 1,500 sentences in largest single-day act of clemency in US history

ABC  

US President Joe Biden has commuted the sentences of roughly 1,500 Americans who were released from prison and placed in home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as pardoning 39 Americans convicted of nonviolent crimes. The pardons and commutations, announced by the White House on Thursday, mean Mr Biden now holds the record for the largest single-day act of …

'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 …

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. …

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 …

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 …

Gunman in racist mass shooting in Buffalo to face death penalty
11 months, 1 week ago

Gunman in racist mass shooting in Buffalo to face death penalty

Al Jazeera  

Payton Gendron murdered 10 Black people at a supermarket in New York state in 2022. Federal prosecutors in the United States will seek the death penalty against Payton Gendron, a white supremacist who murdered 10 Black people during a livestreamed supermarket rampage in New York state. In a notice announcing the decision to seek the death penalty, Trini Ross, US …

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 …

Death penalty looms over Pittsburgh synagogue massacre trial
1 year, 8 months ago

Death penalty looms over Pittsburgh synagogue massacre trial

Associated Press  

The man charged in the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history tried for years to avoid a federal jury trial, which would decide whether to convict him of shooting to death 11 people in a Pittsburgh synagogue. But in a November letter to the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle, family members of nine victims said the attack merits the death penalty, and …

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 …

Florida could end unanimous jury requirement for executions
1 year, 10 months ago

Florida could end unanimous jury requirement for executions

Associated Press  

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida lawmakers proposed legislation making it easier to send convicts to death row by eliminating a unanimous jury requirement in capital punishment sentencing — a response to anger from victims’ families following a verdict sparing a school shooter from execution. Tony Montalto, whose 14-year-old daughter Gina died in the massacre, said changing the …

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 …

US Attorney: Marathon bomber could face death penalty again
2 years, 10 months ago

US Attorney: Marathon bomber could face death penalty again

Associated Press  

BOSTON — U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins said Monday that, if instructed by Attorney General Merrick Garland, she would attempt to reinstate the death penalty against convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston in 2020 mistakenly threw out Tsarnaev’s death sentence for his role in the bombing that killed three people near the finish line of …

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 Justice Department halts federal executions after Donald Trump's administration put 13 people to death
3 years, 5 months ago

US Justice Department halts federal executions after Donald Trump's administration put 13 people to death

ABC  

The US Justice Department has announced a halt on federal executions after a historic use of capital punishment by the Trump administration, which killed 13 people in executions over six months. Key points: Donald Trump's Justice Department resumed federal executions after a 17-year hiatus No president in more than 120 years had overseen so many federal executions There are major …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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