Washington, D.C. – The Department of Justice, under President Joe Biden, has filed for a new death penalty sentencing for the first time, deviating from the administration’s previous stance on the death penalty. Although Biden had pledged to abolish the federal death penalty as a candidate, he has not taken action to remove it from federal criminal code sections.
In 2021, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced a moratorium on federal executions and initiated a review of the department’s use of capital punishment without setting a timetable. This moratorium does not prevent prosecutors from seeking death sentences, but the DOJ has largely refrained from pursuing it. However, in cases of hate crimes, Biden’s Justice Department has left that card at its disposal.
The first death sentence under the Biden administration was handed down by a federal jury in 2023 to the perpetrator of a 2018 mass shooting at a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, synagogue. The DOJ also made an effort to seek the death sentence against an Islamic extremist who killed eight people on a New York City bike path, resulting in a life sentence due to a lack of a unanimous jury.
The Justice Department has chosen not to pursue the death penalty in other mass killings, including the gunman who killed 23 people at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas. White House spokesperson Jeremy Edwards refrained from commenting on individual cases and sentencing decisions, maintaining that those are the domain of the appropriate authorities. Republican candidates for president have embraced the death penalty as part of tough-on-crime messaging.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul expressed her support for the Justice Department’s decision, citing the atrocity of 10 innocent people being targeted because of the color of their skin in a Buffalo shooting in 2022. Conversely, former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis have openly supported the use of the death penalty as part of their policy initiatives, emphasizing a tough stance on crime.
In the wake of the new death penalty sentencing filing by the Biden administration, the debate over the use of the death penalty in the United States has reignited as different political figures take varying stances on the issue. The decision to seek a new death penalty sentencing signals a departure from Biden’s earlier campaign promise to abolish the federal death penalty, prompting discussions on the evolving approach to capital punishment in the United States.
The Department of Justice, under the Biden administration, has taken a new stance by seeking a death penalty sentencing for the first time. While Biden had promised to abolish the federal death penalty during his campaign, the recent filing has raised debates and discussions about the evolving approach to capital punishment in the United States.