Fresh on the heels of two Miami Dade juries choosing life for two men previously convicted of two senseless homicides last Friday, President Biden commuted the death sentences of every defendant on federal death row save three:
The three men who can still face federal execution are Robert D. Bowers, 52, who in 2018 gunned down 11 worshipers at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh; Dylann Roof, 30, the white supremacist who in 2015 opened fire on Black parishioners at a church in Charleston, S.C., killing nine people; and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 31, one of the two brothers who carried out the bombing of the Boston Marathon in 2013 that killed three and maimed more than a dozen others.
Rumpole muses- these are difficult issues. Those who have experienced loss in their lives are often left to wonder why the person who caused the loss is allowed to live while their loved one is gone. This is the reason we should not turn questions of punishment over to victims and survivors. A justice system predicated on emotional vengeance is neither a justice system or justice. It is mob rule. A century ago and more, Mobs dragged innocent African American men out of southern jail cells and hung them in emotional reaction to the crimes they were accused of (usually involving accusations of crimes against white women)- we do not want to return to those times.
In more recent times the vernacular has changed as those in power call the accused and convicted (not to mention immigrants) "Animals". When you dehumanize people you get dehumanizing results inconsistent with a society founded on the principle that all people are created equal, not to mention the Judeo-Christain ethics that current politicians wrap themselves in, which includes the reflection that all people were created in the image of The Creator.
The ideals of our justice system is to rise up above the emotional need for vengeance.
Hate begets hate; violence begets violence; toughness begets a greater toughness. We must meet the forces of hate with the power of love...
Dr. Martin Luther King.
Our own (considerable) experience with the justice system is that we have met very few people whose violent acts cannot be explained and understood as a combination of tragedy, abuse, and illness. We have yet to meet a child who on their own is destined for violence. But we have met many adults who treat children in a manner that puts them on a path for tragedy.
By commuting the death sentences President Biden rises up above the mob's cry for vengeance. A devout Catholic, it is no surprise that these commutations come after his meeting with the Pope last week.
There is more to do. There are more people languishing in federal prison who are more deserving of a second chance for life than those who were on death row. If we were President we would want our staff to find every woman used as a mule for a drug organization who is serving a minimum mandatory sentence- and start with commuting their sentences and pardoning those who merit it.
But this is a good continuation of his current polices of commuting sentences. There is more time and more work to do.
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33 comments:
Biden is not doing anything. His handlers are. He’s fried. He’s no longer with us. All lives are not equal. Some people should die. That’s just unconscious knowledge. Pigs in zen.
Maybe I have the numbers wrong but I believe there have been six jury recommendations in death cases in REG in 2024 and only one was for death. Kathy needs to stop the expensive madness of trying to execute people. Especially these resentencings where the State is 0-3 at least.
Since Biden lacks mental capacity, all his orders should be quashed. Most embarrassing hoax in US history. Thank you Dems, Press, & Liz Cheney.
Absolute sanctity of human life is fine in theory, but inapplicable in real life. Anybody and I mean ANYBODY can be pushed to the brink where they want the ultimate in retribution. If a person cannot live peacefully among others, and is a continuous threat, then they should be taken out. Life is a privilege where a person must not detract from humanity or they cannot walk the same ground any longer. The three holdouts deserve to be put to death by the same society that they sought to wipe out. Who wouldn't kill to protect their family without hesitation? Sometimes us lawyers view things too much in the esoteric. Having a monster take away a somebody's precious possession cannot be empathized.
He should give a pardon to the Illegal who just lit a woman on fire in the New York Subway system. This would perfectly finish close the administration which has only served the liberal elite at the expense of everyone else.
That’s president Musks doing. What an impressive transition. You got to give Trump credit for standing aside and letting him take the wheel.
Really, Life is a privilege? I foolishly thought that People are endowed with unalienable rights including Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.
Maybe your first nominee for AG who was paying for sex with underage girls and using drugs has something significant to say on this issue. You sure don’t.
See above dofus
I don’t know about the illegal who set the woman on fire. But as near as I can see Luigi is an American as are all the people on death row whose sentences Biden did not commute as well as the recent school schooling in Wisconsin as well as just every other school shooting in the last 20 years including the horrible one in Broward (they are all horrible and tragic ). Maybe based on existing data we should deport all American males as they seem to be the ones killing innocent people- especially school children. I’d suggest just taking their guns away but we know that would cause you more hysterics than repealing the 1,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,and 10th amendments. Take away freedom of religion and speech and the right to a jury trial. Just don’t take away automatic weapons that can shoot a dozen school kids in ten seconds or less. I get it. Your priorities are well known. The right to kill with a gun is biblical in nature to you. Although stoning someone who works in the sabbath Numbers 15:32-36;if you’re interested might not be your cup of tea unless you religiously keep the Sabbath and if you do are you sure you’re keeping the right one?
The subway pyromaniac was allowed in by Trump. Thank god Musk is taking charge. He will make sure Trump doesn’t mess this up again.
If we could improve the efficiency of the death penalty so that people actually receive it, I would be in favor of it being used more often. As is, is broken.
I also think that before going to penalty phase, it would be a good idea to give the jury 3 options on guilt: 1) not guilty, 2) guilty, 3), beyond all doubt, reasonable or not, guilty. Only if 3 is checked do you move on to sentencing.
Great post Rumpole. I do believe the death penalty has a deterrent effect. But I do have a problem in how the death penalty is imposed. In other words, I have unresolved mixed feelings on the issue. It is a tough subject matter to discuss over the holidays. By the way, I am an independent voter not registered with any political party. But I usually vote for Democratic candidates.
Only GOD can judge
@7:32 you’re disgusting. If you’re a criminal lawyer I pray your career crumbles miserably.
@7:48 go check on Kay Granger, dummy
Most people on death row are not repeat violent offenders… but sure whatever you say buddy!
HAHAHAHA serving the liberal elite?? What rock do you live under?
Glad to see Biden is now Pro Life.
Joe Biden is doing what the pope told him to do.
If he's anti death penalty as a matter of conscience, why not commute everyone? Sounds like he's pro death penalty for some crimes.
As a formerly incarcerated person, I pose this question: Should the state allow an inmate to choose assisted suicide? Rather than spend life in prison? We are all going to die someday.
Separately, I met an inmate age 72 in poor health (heavy lifetime smoker) who signed a DNR form (do not resuscitate), then had a heart attack, and was "dead" until the jail administered life-saving measures. He spent months in the hospital, then was returned to jail. He was facing life for sexual abuse of his now 30 something year old daughter. (sec 800.04.5B). He denied the allegations. Otherwise no record. Was a cross-county truck driver all his life. Little guy, quiet, unassuming. Says his daughter and wife concocted the story to take the family home, which they did. Eventually he pled no contest, got 7 years max, 8 years probation, credit for 488 days served, must register for life as a sexual predator with community notification. He had nothing left, and was too old and sick to work anymore. Wife and daughter took the home and everything else.
Me? BS charges, credit for 428 days, adjudication withheld, no criminal record.
Interestingly the uber-liberals in Massachusetts are ecstatic that the Marathon bomber’s was not commuted to life. These are the same people who are always calling the death penalty barbaric
Biden has completely lost his mind. Among the ones he pardoned-- Thomas Sanders, who in 2010 kidnapped and then shot 12-year-old Lexis Roberts four times and cut her throat in Louisiana — days after the girl watched as Sanders murdered her mother on a road trip near the Grand Canyon. Anthony Battle, who murdered an Atlanta prison guard with a hammer in 1994 while serving a life sentence for raping and murdering his wife, a US Marine, in 1987. Jorge Avila-Torrez, another clemency recipient, sexually assaulted and stabbed to death two girls — Laura Hobbs, 8, and Krystal Tobias, 9 — who had been riding their bicycles in their neighborhood in a suburb north of Chicago in 2005. These prisoners should have been executed by now in front of a firing squad. What purpose does it serve to keep them alive costing millions of taxpayer dollars. If someone did this to my family, I would want to see them executed and sent to hell. What better way for Biden to demonstrate his incompetence and arrogance than to spare murderers, whom American juries had determined were deserving of the death penalty, which exists because legislatures had determined some murderers truly deserve it. Good Riddance Biden.
Nice words, Rumpy. Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah and Happy Kwanza.
Despite how one might feel about the death penalty or not, the term is "commuted" not "pardoned". Pardoned implies someone walked out the door, scott free. These murderers will spend life in prison, and die in prison. A pardon is a complete forgiveness of a crime and restores full rights of citizenship. That did not happen.
Didn't Justice Antonin Scalia say it was okay to execute an innocent person because claims of "actual innocence" are for the trial court to determine, and not a legitimate issue for an appellate court to consider?
Furthermore, a lifer with no possibility of release is a clear and present danger to every other inmate, and a danger to the prison staff. A lifer with no possibility of release can become a murderer for hire, an assassin, and can kill with virtual impunity. A lifer can kill an inmate who is scheduled to testify as a witness in another case, or kill a corrections officer, for revenge, or for no reason. On my separate example, the inmate is Freddie Lamp, DC #: Q61593 in Suwanne CI Annex. His crime was "attempted" L&L molestation 800.04.5B, not actual.
elderly have no place in prisons. The average person, including lawyers, are completely ignorant to the realities of prison. I am not just talking the obvious like violence and safety issues, but the simpler things like extreme climates with no air conditioning when hot or blankets when cold; contaminated water; use of synthetic drugs; multiple day/week lock downs; lack of proper plumbing; lack of proper medical care; lack of adequate and nutritious food; exorbitant pricing for phone calls and commissary; no books; I can go on and on. This is cruel for the average person, but for the elderly with medical issues, it is cruel and unusual. America should have separate facilities for older people..... and yes, the officers should respect a DNR.
KFR has no clue how to be fiscal responsible.
But I’m Canadian?
Do you think Scalia was the greatest Justice to ever preside?
No
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