Lawmakers urge Joe Biden to commute the sentences of death row prisoners

A group of 35 Democrats, on January 23, urged US President Joe Biden to commute the sentences of 49 prisoners left on death row. In a letter addressed to Biden, the lawmakers urged the newly appointed leader to “reverse systematic injustices and restore America’s moral standing”. In their remarks, they indirectly blasted the former administration for its “killing spree” which resulted in the execution of 13 prisoners just before Donald Trump left the oval office.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev 

According to Death Penalty Information Centre, of the 49 people still, on federal death row, 21 are white, 20 are black, seven are Latino and one is Asian. One of the convicts is Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who is charged with planting bombs on the route of Boston marathon in 2013. Responsible for three deaths and 264 injuries, Tsarnaev’s death sentence was overturned and is it now up to the Supreme court to decide.

The call, led by two African-American congresswoman Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Cori Bush of Missouri, asked Biden to take "swift and decisive" actions on the convicts. In addendum, it also reasons that commuting the death sentences would mark the first step in remedying the “grave injustice” in the country. Urging the President to transform the criminal legal system for the better, the lawmakers asked him to enact "just and restorative policies".  

“Commuting the death sentences of those on death row and ensuring that each person is provided with an adequate and unique re-sentencing process is a crucial first step in remedying this grave injustice,” they said.

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The Donald Trump administration carried out out 13th and the final federal execution days before the President left his office. Trump’s Justice Department executed Dustin John Higgs by giving him lethal injection on January 15, just days before Joe Biden steps in with a promise to permanently end death penalties. Higgs who was convicted of killing three women in Maryland in 1996 had argued that he was innocent and even filed an eleventh-hour clemency appeal. 

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