In contrast, Biden has a mixed record on capital punishment. Unlike his predecessor, he has not carried out any federal executions, but, as the Atlantic's Elizabeth Bruenig explains, "neither has he instructed [Attorney General Merrick] Garland to stop pursuing new death sentences, or to stop defending ongoing capital cases."
That is the least that America's first abolitionist chief executive can do. Like those governors, Biden has ample grounds to use his clemency power to advance the cause of justice and to save lives.
A blanket commutation would realize Mr. Biden's anti-death-penalty stance and move the United States further along the path to abolition. It would also prevent another federal execution spree such as that carried out in the Trump administration.
Now that the 2024 election is over and Trump will be returning to the White House, it is even more important that President Biden do as I urged him to do last July and use his clemency power to empty the federal death row.
#federal-death-row #capital-punishment #biden-administration #clemency-power #abolition-of-death-penalty
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