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As clock ticks toward another Trump presidency, federal death row prisoners appeal for clemency

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President-elect Donald Trump’s return to office is putting a spotlight on the U.S. penitentiary in Terre Haute, which houses federal death row. In Bloomington, a small community of death row spiritual advisors is struggling to support the prisoners to whom they minister.  Ross Martinie Eiler is a Mennonite, Episcopal lay minister and member of the Catholic Worker movement, which assists the homeless. And for the past three years, he’s served as a spiritual advisor for a man on federal death row.
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Joe Biden on Capital Punishment

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Biden is credited for authoring several significant pieces of legislation in the area of federal law enforcement, including The Violent Crime Control & Law Enforcement Act of 1994, widely known as the Biden Law, which:

- Banned the manufacture of 19 specific semiautomatic "assault weapons"

- Allocated more money to build prisons & set up bootcamps for delinquent minors

- Designated 50 new federal offenses, including gang membership, and created several new federal death penalty offenses, including murders related to drug dealing, drive-by shooting murders, civil rights-related murders, murders of federal law enforcement officers, and death caused by acts of terrorism or weapons of mass destruction.

The law was passed shortly before the Oklahoma City bombing, and its provisions were applied to execute Timothy McVeigh. The legislation received bipartisan support, but was reviled by death penalty opponents and civil libertarians. Some believe it broke ground for the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001.

More on Biden on Death Penalty:

Joe Biden on crime

Joe Biden on Civil Liberties
Location: Washington, DC, USA
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Biden Has 65 Days Left in Office. Here’s What He Can Do on Criminal Justice.

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Judicial appointments and the death penalty are among areas where a lame-duck administration can still leave a mark. Donald Trump’s second presidential term will begin on Jan. 20, bringing with it promises to dramatically reshape many aspects of the criminal justice system. The U.S. Senate — with its authority over confirming judicial nominees — will also shift from Democratic to Republican control.
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Alabama executes Carey Dale Grayson, carries out nation's 3rd nitrogen gas execution

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ATMORE, Ala. — An Alabama man convicted in the 1994 killing of a hitchhiker cursed at the prison warden and made obscene gestures with his hands shortly before he was put to death Thursday evening in the nation's third execution using nitrogen gas. Carey Dale Grayson, 50, was executed at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in southern Alabama. He was one of four teenagers convicted of killing Vickie DeBlieux, 37, as she hitchhiked through the state on the way to her mother's home in Louisiana. The woman was attacked, beaten and thrown off a cliff.
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Singapore executes third drug trafficker in a week

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Rosman Abdullah’s execution was the eighth this year in the city state, seven for drug trafficking and one for murder Singapore on Friday hanged a 55-year-old man for drug trafficking, its narcotics enforcement agency said, the city state’s third execution in a week as the United Nations called for a halt. The UN and rights groups say capital punishment has no proven deterrent effect and have called for it to be abolished, but Singaporean officials insist it has helped make the country one of Asia’s safest.
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Indonesia | Bali Nine prisoners to be sent home

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The news comes after a request from Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. The five remaining Bali nine* prisoners currently serving life sentences in Indonesia for drug trafficking are set to return to Australia at the request of Anthony Albanese. The Prime Minister made the plea during talks with new president Prabowo Subianto at the APEC conference in Peru, The Australian reported on Friday.
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Singapore | Imminent unlawful execution for drug trafficking

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Ahead of the scheduled execution of a man for drug-related offences, in violation of international law and standards, in Singapore on Friday 22 November, Amnesty International’s death penalty expert Chiara Sangiorgio said:  “The upcoming execution of Rosman bin Abdullah underlines the chilling determination of the Singapore authorities to continue to implement the death penalty. Singapore is among a handful of countries still executing people for drug-related offences, in violation of international human rights law and standards. This must stop immediately. 
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Mary Jane Veloso to return to Philippines after 14-year imprisonment in Indonesia

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BACK IN 2010, overseas Filipino worker (OFW) Mary Jane Veloso was arrested in Indonesia. She was convicted of drug trafficking after being caught carrying 2.6 kilograms of heroin in Yogyakarta. She was then given the death penalty despite pleading innocence – saying that she was only a victim of human trafficking.  Initially, she started working as an OFW to give her children a better life. As per her lawyer Agus Salim, she had gone to Dubai to work as a domestic helper, but returned to Manila before the end of her contract because she was allegedly almost raped.
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USA | Pro-Trump prison warden asks Biden to commute all death sentences before leaving

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Ron McAndrew is a former Florida State Penitentiary warden A pro-Trump former Florida prison warden who oversaw executions is urging President Biden to commute all federal and military death sentences before leaving office. "I voted for President Trump in all of his campaigns, and I agree with him on most of his positions, but not the death penalty," Ron McAndrew, former warden of the Florida State Penitentiary, wrote in a letter to the outgoing president. "I have written to President Trump personally to ask him to stop calling for more executions."
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Texas Supreme Court Rules that a New Execution Date Can be Set for Robert Roberson

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In a November 15, 2024, ruling, the Texas Supreme Court cleared the way for the state to reschedule the execution of Robert Roberson, despite compelling evidence of his innocence and widespread support for a new trial.  Mr. Roberson was scheduled to be executed October 17, but on October 16 the Texas House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence issued a subpoena for Mr. Roberson to testify on a day after his execution was to occur. A district court temporarily halted the execution so that Mr. Roberson could testify, and the state appealed.
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