Trump Vows to Restart Executions After Biden's Commutation of Federal Death Row Sentences
President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to pursue executions after President Joe Biden commuted the sentences of 37 of the 40 people on federal death row to life in prison without parole. Trump criticized Biden's decision, calling it "senseless" and claiming it "insults the families of their victims" ¹.
Biden's decision was made partly to prevent Trump from pushing forward with the executions. The President cited a moratorium on federal executions, except in cases of terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder, as the reason for his decision.
Trump has long been a proponent of capital punishment and has called for expanding its use in federal cases. He has specifically mentioned violent rapists, murderers, and "monsters" as those who should face the death penalty ¹.
Trump highlighted the cases of two men who had their sentences commuted by Biden. One of the men, Jorge Avila Torrez, was sentenced to death for killing a sailor in Virginia and later pleaded guilty to the fatal stabbing of two young girls in a Chicago park. The other man, Thomas Steven Sanders, was sentenced to death for the kidnapping and slaying of a 12-year-old girl in Louisiana ¹.
Some families of victims expressed anger over Biden's decision, while advocacy groups such as the ACLU and the US Conference of Catholic Bishops applauded the move. Biden's decision left three federal inmates facing execution, including Dylann Roof, who carried out the 2015 racist slayings of nine Black members of Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina ¹.
Trump's vow to pursue executions has raised questions about the future of capital punishment in the United States. While Trump has been consistent in his support for the death penalty, experts say that implementing his plans may be challenging. Douglas Berman, an expert on sentencing at Ohio State University's law school, noted that Trump's statement seems to be more rhetoric than a concrete plan ¹.
The debate over capital punishment is ongoing, with public opinion divided on the issue. According to Gallup polls, support for the death penalty has declined over the past few decades, with about half of Americans supporting it in a recent poll ¹.
As the debate continues, one thing is clear: the issue of capital punishment remains a contentious and complex one, with no easy answers.
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