Summary

President Joe Biden commuted the sentences of 37 federal death row inmates to life without parole, sparing all but three convicted of high-profile mass killings.

Biden framed the decision as a moral stance against federal executions, citing his legal background and belief in the dignity of human life.

Donald Trump criticized the move as senseless, vowing to reinstate the death penalty.

Reactions were mixed: some victims’ families condemned Biden, while others supported his decision. Human rights groups praised it as a significant step against capital punishment.

  • orbular@lemmy.today
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    2 days ago

    I can’t help but wonder if this is an assignment to “clear the wait list” for if/when Mangione gets convicted? I don’t quite understand the system but it seems many people on death row spend so many years waiting for the bureaucratic processes to complete before their lives are taken.

    • Dragonstaff@leminal.space
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      1 day ago

      The processes that need to complete have very little to do with other death row inmates, so this doesn’t particularly make much sense.

      Death penalty cases ostensibly get the most “due process”, as you would expect, and the time is spent in appeals etc. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a barbaric system, we handle it terribly, and I’d say we routinely execute innocent people. But I can’t think of any way this clemency will help them kill Mangione much more quickly.