Joe Biden Could Be About To Break Key Election Promise

President Joe Biden campaigned on a pledge to work toward abolishing the death penalty, but advocates say he is far from making good on that promise.

While running for president, Biden's campaign website said he would "work to pass legislation to eliminate the death penalty at the federal level, and incentivize states to follow the federal government's example."

Those convicted of the most egregious crimes "should instead serve life sentences without probation or parole," it added.

His Justice Department, under Attorney General Merrick Garland, has not sought the death penalty in any new cases and has withdrawn several requests for capital punishment sought by prior administrations.

However, that did not occur in the case of Sayfullo Saipov, who killed eight people with a speeding truck in a rampage on a popular New York City bike path in 2017. Prosecutors said Saipov's attack was designed to impress the Islamic State militant group.

Saipov, 34, who moved legally to the U.S. from Uzbekistan over a decade ago, was convicted in a Manhattan courtroom last week in the first federal death penalty trial of the Biden administration.

Although the decision to seek death in the case came under former President Donald Trump—who tweeted that Saipov "SHOULD GET DEATH PENALTY!" soon after he was charged—Garland allowed his prosecutors to continue to advocate for it.

Jurors will return to court no earlier than February 6 to hear further evidence to help them decide whether Saipov should be sentenced to death or spend the rest of his life in prison, The Associated Press reported.

Advocates for abolishing the death penalty say that although Biden's Justice Department has instituted a moratorium on federal executions, meaning none are likely to happen anytime soon, a future president could resume them—like Trump did in 2020, when 13 inmates were put to death over the course of his final six months of office.

They told Newsweek that Saipov's case demonstrates how Biden, the first president to have openly opposed the death penalty, has not made good on a key campaign promise two years into his presidency.

"President Biden ran on a platform of abolishing the federal death penalty," Brian Stull, deputy director of the ACLU's Capital Punishment Project, told Newsweek.

"Capital punishment is a failed experiment: it normalizes harsh sentences that contribute to mass incarceration, it is applied in a racially discriminatory manner, and it has resulted in the execution of innocent people. Saipov's trial and the DOJ's decision to seek death represents a broken promise by the Biden administration."

Miriam Krinsky, a former federal prosecutor and the executive director of Fair and Just Prosecution, said: "If we are to end capital punishment once and for all and join the many nations in the world who have disavowed it, we must have the resolve to not seek the death penalty even in the most troubling and tragic cases."

Krinsky told Newsweek, that "continuing to invoke the death penalty—even for the most heinous of crimes—says much more about us as a society than it does about the individual the federal government seeks to put to death.

"It is my hope that the Biden administration will have the resolve not just to maintain a moratorium on the death penalty, but also to put a full halt to its use and dismantle the machinery of death our nation has embraced for far too long."

Abraham Bonowitz, the executive director of Death Penalty Action, said he was glad Saipov was convicted and that he hoped the jury "decides to throw away the key on him."

But he argued that a death sentence in a terrorism case "plays into the hands of terrorists."

"It gives them a stage to amplify their message, and may also encourage more such heinous acts," he told Newsweek. "A death sentence will make him a martyr to his cause and give him a stage and a spotlight for his message. A sentence of life in prison with no chance for parole will effectively silence him."

The White House has been contacted for comment.

Source: newsweek.com, Staff, January 31, 2023

_____________________________________________________________________

FOLLOW US ON:

TELEGRAM

TWITTER

CONTACT: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde

Florida executes Billy Kearse

Florida executes man who killed Fort Pierce police officer during 1991 traffic stop Moments before receiving a lethal injection, Billy Kearse asked for forgiveness from the family of Danny Parrish, whose widow said she found peace after a "long, long 35 years.” A man convicted of fatally shooting a police officer with his own service weapon during a traffic stop was executed Tuesday evening, becoming the third person put to death by Florida this year after a record 19 executions in 2025.

Florida Cop-killer Billy Kearse set to be executed today

A man who confessed to fatally shooting Fort Pierce Police Officer Danny Parrish with his own service weapon during a 1991 traffic stop is scheduled to be executed starting at 6 p.m. March 3, barring a last-minute stay. Billy L. Kearse, 53, will be the third person put to death by the state this year, just one week after the execution of Melvin Trotter, who was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death for strangling and stabbing Virgie Langford in Palmetto in 1986. The Florida Supreme Court on Feb. 12 denied a motion for a stay of execution and a motion for an extension due to the fading health and death of the father of Kearse's attorney. Attorneys for Kearse have filed a motion with the U.S. Supreme Court to stop the execution, citing violations of the Sixth, Eighth and 14th Amendments of the United States Constitution.

Texas Plans Second Execution of the Year

Cedric Ricks is set to be killed on March 11 Cedric Ricks spoke in his own defense at his 2013 murder trial, something most defendants accused of a terrible crime do not do. Ricks confessed that he had killed his girlfriend, Roxann Sanchez, and her 8-year-old son. He admitted he was aggressive and had trouble controlling his anger, stating that he was “sorry about everything.” The Tarrant County jury was unmoved. Ricks has spent the last 13 years on death row and is scheduled to be executed on March 11.

Former Florida officer who raped, murdered 11-year-old set to be executed

An execution date has been set for a former Mascotte police officer who, in May 1987, assaulted and murdered an 11-year-old girl. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a death warrant for James Aren Duckett on Friday. He’s scheduled to be executed on March 31. It’ll be the state’s 5th execution this year, following a record 19 executions in 2025. Duckett was convicted in the murder of 11-year-old Teresa McAbee about a year after her death. According to officials, Duckett took the 11-year-old to a lake, where he sexually battered, strangled and drowned her.

Florida | Governor DeSantis signs death warrant in 2008 murder case

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Governor Ron DeSantis has signed a death warrant for Michael L. King, setting an execution date of March 17, 2026, at 6 p.m. King was convicted and sentenced to death for the 2008 kidnapping, sexual battery and murder of Denise Amber Lee, a 21-year-old North Port mother. On January 17, 2008, Michael Lee King abducted 21-year-old Denise Amber Lee from her North Port home by forcing her into his green Chevrolet Camaro. He drove her around while she was bound, including to his cousin's house to borrow tools like a shovel. King took her to his home, where he sexually battered her, then placed her in the backseat of his car. Later that evening, he drove to a remote area, shot her in the face, and buried her nude body in a shallow grave. Her remains were discovered two days later. During the crime, multiple 9-1-1 calls were made, but communication breakdowns between emergency dispatch centers delayed the response. The case drew national attention and prompted w...

Prosecutors seek death penalty in 2 Georgia cases

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in two separate Georgia criminal cases. One involves the killing of a Gwinnett County police officer and another is over the death of a 4-year-old girl in Hall County . Kevin Andrews is charged in the death of 25-year-old Gwinnett County Police Officer Pradeep Tamang, who was shot and killed while investigating a credit card fraud case. Authorities said Andrews had an outstanding warrant and shot at officers without warning. Another officer, David Reed, was seriously injured.

Maldives | Death penalty law for drug trafficking now in effect

MALÉ, Maldives (DPN) — The Maldives has officially brought into force an amendment to its Narcotics Act that introduces the death penalty for large-scale drug trafficking, marking a significant and controversial shift in the island nation’s criminal justice policy. The amended law, which took effect Saturday, March 7, 2026, allows for capital punishment in cases involving the smuggling and importation of specific quantities of illicit substances. The move fulfills a key pledge by President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu’s administration to crack down on the country’s growing narcotics crisis and protect what he has termed the nation’s “100 percent Islamic society.” Thresholds for Capital Punishment Under the new provisions, the death penalty is not a mandatory sentence but an available option for the judiciary when specific criteria are met. The law establishes clear weight thresholds for substances brought into the country: Cannabis: More than 350 grams. Diamorphine (Heroin): More than 250 grams....

Florida executes Melvin Trotter

The execution of Melvin Trotter for the murder of 70-year-old Virgie Langford in 1986 comes as Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor questions Florida's 'deeply troubling' lethal injection record. Florida has executed its second inmate of the year even as a Supreme Court justice questioned the state's “deeply troubling" record on lethal injections and how it "shrouds its executions in secrecy." Melvin Trotter, 65, was executed by lethal injection on Tuesday, Feb. 24, for the 1986 murder of 70-year-old Virgie Langford, a mother of 4 who was on the verge of retirement when she was stabbed to death in the corner grocery store that she owned for five decades. Trotter was pronounced dead at 6:15 p.m. ET.

Oklahoma Ends Indefinite Death Row Solitary Confinement

Every year, thousands of prisoners in the U.S. are placed in solitary confinement, where they endure isolation, abuse, and mental suffering . This practice might soon become rarer for some inmates in Oklahoma, thanks to the efforts of activists in the state. Earlier this month, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Oklahoma announced that the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester had ended the practice of indefinite solitary confinement for "the vast majority" of death row prisoners.

Chinese courts conclude trials of 2 criminal gangs from northern Myanmar, 16 sentenced to death

Chinese courts have concluded the trials of 2 major criminal groups based in northern Myanmar involved in telecom and online fraud, the Supreme People's Court (SPC) said Thursday. At a press conference held by the SPC, it was revealed that by the end of 2025, courts across the country had concluded first-instance trials of over 27,000 cases related to telecom fraud operations in northern Myanmar, with more than 41,000 returned suspects sentenced. Notably, among the trials of the so-called "4 major families" criminal gangs -- which had drawn widespread domestic and international attention -- those of the Ming and Bai groups have completed all judicial proceedings.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog