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Activists Call on President Biden to End the Federal Death Penalty Before Leaving Office

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A conversation with Death Penalty Action Co-founder and Executive Director Abe Bonowitz. Now that Joe Biden is a lame duck president, activists are holding him accountable to make good on his promise to end the federal death penalty during his remaining six months as president. Biden’s election campaign in 2020 had pledged to end the federal death penalty and incentivize the remaining 27 states that still allow executions to do the same. While he made history as the first president in the United States to openly oppose the death penalty, there has been no movement to actually end federal executions during his nearly four years in office.

Alabama set to tie record for executions in 50 years with upcoming lethal injection

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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) -Alabama is on track to tie its record for the most executions in a single year, as Derrick Dearman, a 35-year-old Mississippi man, is scheduled to be put to death next Thursday for the 2016 murders of five people in Mobile County.

Described by officials as a “gruesome and horrific” crime, Dearman was convicted of using an axe and a gun to kill his five of his girlfriend’s relatives.

The state’s growing execution numbers are drawing attention, with legal experts noting that Alabama is increasingly setting itself apart from other states. Fordham Law School Professor Deborah Denno shared her thoughts on the trend.

“If you’re for the death penalty, then you would think this is great, that Alabama is moving in the right direction,” Denno said. “On the other hand, the fact that you have a state that is so separate from other states in this country, much less other states that have the death penalty, is telling as well.”

Denno expressed concern over the state’s rising number of executions, noting that Alabama did not carry out as many death sentences after implementing the death penalty in 1976.

“I think that’s a shocking tie when you start looking at the fact that Alabama earlier didn’t execute that many people after it adopted the death penalty in 1976 along with other states, so this has been quite a pronounced increase over time,” she said.

Denno believes a new method of execution, nitrogen hypoxia, is also contributing to the rise.

“Nearly half of these executions are going to be conducted by nitrogen hypoxia,” she said. “Alabama is the only state in the world, much less the country, that’s ever used that method of execution.”

While state leaders, including Attorney General Steve Marshall, argue that nitrogen hypoxia is a safe and effective alternative to lethal injection, Denno remains skeptical.

“Two of the three nitrogen hypoxia executions are going to be conducted on inmates for whom lethal injection failed, and that is a stunning statistic,” Denno said.

Despite the ongoing debate about execution methods, Dearman’s execution will proceed via lethal injection. State officials said the process is moving quickly due to Dearman’s own actions. In a handwritten letter to the Attorney General’s office, Dearman admitted his guilt, fired his legal team, and stated that while he does not want to die, he believes it is the right thing to do, and asked to be executed.

Source: wbrc.com, Staff, October 11, 2024

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

— Oscar Wilde



Location: Alabama, USA
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