41st Execution Under Biden: President Pledged End Of Death Penalty But Has Made Little Progress On Issue

President Joe Biden’s promise to eliminate the death penalty at the federal level and work to end capital punishment in states seems to have gone dormant as the Department of Justice continues to press for the death penalty in certain cases and Biden—the first president to openly oppose the execution of prisoners—stays quiet on the issue as they continue in states.

Biden pledged to push for the death penalty’s elimination on the campaign trail in 2020 and did order a moratorium on carrying out federal death sentences, but since then his administration has been largely silent on the matter.

The nonpartisan Death Policy Information Center says there are 43 federal death row prisoners with sentences dating back as far as 1997, with the most recent death row inmate, Brandon Council of South Carolina, sentenced in 2019.

While no defendants have been sentenced to death since the start of the Biden administration, the Department of Justice has sought to uphold death sentences in previously prosecuted cases including those of church shooter Dylann Roof, Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Rejon Taylor, sentenced in 2008 for killing a restaurant owner.

A federal jury in Pennsylvania earlier this month found Robert Bowers, convicted of killing 11 people at a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018, eligible for the death penalty and is considering whether to recommend it, a process that could last several weeks, CNN reported.

Advocates have called on Biden to commute federal death penalties and abolish the capital punishment system, the New York Times reported, which would require Congress to pass legislation.

Earlier this month, Senators Ed Markey (D-MA) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), with Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), reintroduced the Federal Death Penalty Prohibition Act of 2023 that would stop judges from imposing federal death sentences and require re-sentencing of those currently on death row.

The White House in January told the Associated Press that "the DOJ makes decisions about prosecutions independently."

There have been no federal executions under the Biden administration, but 41 people have been put to death in seven states since he took office.

White House representatives did not immediately respond to request for comment Friday.

NEWS PEG

Alabama executed its first prisoner in a year early Friday morning when convicted murderer James Barber, 64, died by lethal injection. Barber told NBC he had "no fear of death," but did worry about the lethal injection after Alabama was forced to stop three executions due to challenges finding a vein through which to administer lethal drugs. Barber’s attorneys appealed to the Supreme Court Thursday night to halt the execution, but the Court denied the request, with three liberal judges accusing Alabama of using Barber as a "guinea pig.” Barber was not a federal inmate.

KEY BACKGROUND

The death penalty in the United States dates back to the first establishment of the colonies. The Massachusetts Bay Colony held its first execution in 1630. The state of Massachusetts has since abolished the practice. Death sentences peaked in the mid 1990s, when more than 300 people were sentenced to death row per year, and have since sharply declined, the Death Penalty Information Center says. Lethal injection was first used in 1982, when Charles Brooks was given a lethal dose of sodium thiopental via an intravenous line in Texas. Between December 7, 1982 and the practice's 40th anniversary last year, the federal government has killed 1,377 prisoners using some version of the method, the nonprofit says. The Pew Research Center most recently in 2021 conducted a poll on how Americans feel about capital punishment—60% of U.S. adults favor the death penalty for people convicted of murder while 78% admit there is some risk that an innocent person will be put to death.

BIG NUMBER

13. President Donald Trump in 2020 allowed federal executions to go forward for the first time in 17 years. Thirteen people were put to death during his last six months as president, more than any other single president has overseen in more than 120 years, according to AP.

TANGENT

There are 27 states that still allow the death penalty to be imposed in certain cases, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, three of which have governors who have imposed moratoriums on executing inmates—California, Pennsylvania and Oregon. Arizona and Ohio's governors have paused the death penalty while the state systems are reviewed. Arizona Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs said there will be no executions until there is "confidence that the state is not violating the law," and Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine said the state will no longer use lethal injection, pausing execution until lawmakers choose a different method of capital punishment, per AP.

Source: Forbes, Mary Whitfill Roeloffs, July 21, 2023

_____________________________________________________________________

FOLLOW US ON:

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

Tennessee Supreme Court denies stay for death row inmate Christa Pike

(TNND) — As Tennessee prepares for a Sept. 30 execution, the Tennessee Supreme Court has denied death row inmate Christa Gail Pike’s request to stop it. The court rejected Pike’s challenge to the state’s lethal-injection protocol, finding that her thrombocytosis diagnosis, a condition involving elevated blood platelets, did not show the execution would violate the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

Tennessee Woman Christa Pike Survives Lethal Injection, Ends Up in Hospital; Governor Halts Executions

Tennessee unable to carry out the execution by lethal injection of Christa Gail Pike Tennessee officials were unable to put Christa Gail Pike to death for a 1995 murder Wednesday, media witnesses said, after the lethal injection was halted for hours as courts considered a last-minute appeal of what would have been the state's 1st execution of a woman in at least 200 years. Pike, 50, had been scheduled for execution for a killing she committed at age 18 after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned an appeals court ruling that stopped the lethal injection just an hour before it was to start. Officials then attempted to go ahead with it as planned.

Florida | He executed death row prisoners. Then they came back to haunt him

Dunnellon, Florida—Every night, one of the men Ron McAndrew killed would sit at the foot of his bed and stare, blankly, into his tortured soul. He knew they were coming. He’d shift over in his sheets to make room. “They never said anything,” McAndrew recalls, his aged voice straining from the weight of the memory. “They just sat there and looked at me.” But their eyes would talk. They would ask, "How could you do such a thing?’” says McAndrew. “You always claimed to be a good person. And now you’re killing people.”

Tennessee | Governor permits Christa Pike execution: 'I am upholding the sentence'

Gov. Bill Lee does not plan to stop Christa Pike's execution. Pike, 50, is scheduled to be killed by lethal injection 10 a.m. Sept. 30 at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. “After deliberate consideration of Christa Gail Pike’s request for clemency, and after a thorough review of the case, I am upholding the sentence of the State of Tennessee and do not plan to intervene," Lee said in a statement released Sept. 28. Pike's attorneys lamented the news.

Florida executes Curtis Beasley

A 77-year-old man convicted of killing a woman with a hammer has become the 16th person executed this year in Florida A 77-year-old Florida man was put to death Tuesday for his conviction in a deadly hammer attack on a woman decades ago, becoming the 16th person executed to date this year in the nation’s busiest death chamber. Curtis Wilkie Beasley was pronounced dead at 6:12 p.m. following a lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke. He was convicted of 1st-degree murder, robbery, and grand theft auto in the 1995 hammer attack on Carolyn Monfort at her home south of Orlando.

Philippines | President Marcos Grants Absolute Pardon to Mary Jane Veloso

President Marcos Confirms Decision to Grant Absolute Pardon to Mary Jane Veloso President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has signed an absolute pardon for Mary Jane Veloso after more than a decade. On Friday (September 25, 2026), the President confirmed the decision during a visit to Guiuan, Eastern Samar. According to him, the pardon was officially signed the previous day, marking a major development in the case.

William Thompson Faces Execution in Florida Amid Dementia, Terminal Illness Concerns

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed an execution warrant for 74-year-old prisoner William “Bill” Thompson less than 24 hours after he was released from the hospital to the hospice wing of the prison. After his attorneys raised serious concerns about his mental competency and deteriorating physical health, Gov. DeSantis agreed to temporarily stay the execution so Mr. Thompson’s competency can be evaluated on October 1. If he is found competent, his execution remains scheduled for October 13.

Singapore | Ministry of Home Affairs refutes claims that death penalty was discussed during visit by Israel's security ministry

The Ministry of Home Affairs says discussions with the Israeli government involved the sharing of best practices in emergency response, crime prevention, and forensics. Issues relating to the death penalty “were never part of the meeting and were not discussed." SINGAPORE: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Friday (Sep 11) refuted claims by an Israeli media outlet that the death penalty was discussed during a visit by an Israeli delegation in May. The Haaretz newspaper reported on Sep 7 that a delegation comprising representatives from the Israel Prison Service and National Security Ministry made a “secret visit” to Singapore that month.

Texas executes Ker’Sean Ramey

Texas executes man for a triple killing, days after other man convicted in case was put to death A man was executed Wednesday evening in Texas for a triple killing committed during an attempted robbery at a rural home, 1 week after the other man convicted in the case was put to death. Ker’Sean Ramey, 41, was pronounced dead at 6:34 p.m. CDT following a lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville. He was the 6th person executed this year in Texas, with 3 more lethal injections scheduled in the state over the next 2 months.

DNA evidence doesn’t match man who spent decades on death row, Utah prosecutors say

Douglas Stewart Carter, 71, was sentenced to death in 1985 after a jury found him guilty of murdering Eva Olesen Prosecutors are dropping their plan to seek the death penalty in an upcoming retrial of a Utah man who spent decades on death row for a 1985 killing in which newly analyzed DNA evidence did not match him. Douglas Stewart Carter, 71, was sentenced to death in 1985 after a jury found him guilty of murdering Eva Olesen, the aunt of a former Provo police chief. The state Supreme Court last year ordered a new trial, citing misconduct by investigators. Carter remains in custody and maintains his innocence.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog