President Biden is under increasing pressure from various organizations and individuals to commute all federal death sentences. Advocates cite systemic bias, racism, and the lack of deterrent effect of the death penalty.
Will President Joe Biden commute all federal death sentences or will he break another campaign promise before leaving office in January? Last week, hundreds of organizations and community leaders wrote to President Biden advocating an end of capital punishment, citing systemic bias, racism, and evidence that the death penalty does not act as a deterrent to crime. Even Pope Francis added his voice to these calls, urging the United States to end the practice.
As a practicing Catholic, Biden has claimed to oppose the death penalty and promised to end it during his 2020 presidential campaign. In July 2021, the Department of Justice issued a moratorium on executions but has gone no further.The 68-page bundle of letters was sent on behalf of a broad coalition of advocates representing various communities across the United States. They included prison reform activists, retired federal judges, current and former prosecutors, family members of murder victims, Black and Indigenous faith leaders, and human rights organizations like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. One letter written by family members of murder victims states:For too many of us, the death penalty has only prolonged an already agonizing experience with a lengthy process that leaves us with more pain, despair, and isolation. The complex, constitutionally mandated legal process causes decades of uncertainty and waiting, which continually resurfaces trauma and delays healing. For all of us, this system completely ignores our very real needs, diverting dollars and attention from the critical services our families desperately need in the wake of violence. The death penalty does not prevent violence. It does not solve crime. It divides families when we need each other the most.The coalition argues that commuting the sentences of those still on death row would allow the government to redirect its resources toward policies that enhance public safety, which the death penalty does not do
DEATH PENALTY JOE BIDEN CAMPAIGN PROMISE CAPITAL PUNISHMENT HUMAN RIGHTS
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