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Biden commutes all but 3 federal death sentences
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Anonymous
You would be wrong. Biden will be remembered as ineffective in his ability to blow his own trumpet and boasting. Obama was the same. One thing about Trump, that narcissist will declare a win even when it is a loss or disastrous to the country. Perhaps that's the greatest weakness of Democrats, lack of self-aggrandizing. |
Anonymous
Well SCOTUS said the POTUS is GOD. |
Anonymous
Once they eliminate the death penalty they will come next for life with no parole, how cruel it is. |
Anonymous
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So you think a guy that rapes 2 young girls to death isn't as vile as trump? This is why people think you are the bad guys. 1. kidnap/murder/torture 2. carjacking, arson, 2 counts of murder 3. double homicide and the rape of a 12 year old 4. rape and murder 5. murder of postmistress and theft of mail 6. murder of a cellmate 7. murder of a cellmate 8. double homicide, bank robbery 9. white supremacist murder black man while in prison. 10. contract killing of a woman who filed a complaint against a cop. 11. prison murder of a snitch. 12. double homicide theft. 13. serial rape, kidnap, and there is still a 1 year old baby missing. 14. murder of 2 corrections officers to get the keys to the cell of another inmate, who they also murdered. 15. murder a mother and leaving the baby alone with the dead mom. 16. prison murder 17. murder, bank robbery 18. kidnap, rape, murder 19. multiple kidnap/murder. 20. bank robbery, murder 21. medicare fraud, murder 22. high level crack dealers 23. crack kingpin 24. murder for hire 25. murdering a family including a 3 year old and 4 year old 26. double homicide including a 12 year old 27. arson, killing a federal witness along with 5 other people. 28. burglary, kidnap murder 29. raping 2 little girls to death and raping a woman to death Some of these involve multiple defendants (especially the prison murders tend to involve teamwork). |
Anonymous
The Bible says a lot of stupid shit, and contradicts itself on capital punishment numerous times. |
Anonymous
No you dumbass. SCOTUS said that Presidents have immunity from prosecution for doing things in their official capacity. Insurrection is not something they do in their official capacity. Treason is not something they do in their official capacity. You know what, just read the goddam opinion instead of getting your information from twitter. |
Anonymous
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This amounts to the President(really some lefty advisers using the President's pen) repealing the federal death penalty, which Congress has refused to do.
President Trump should do the same for any laws he doesn't like. |
Anonymous
I don’t believe this at all. Having sat there while they peacefully put an almost 100 pound dog to sleep. With whatever was in the bag of the travel vet who came to our house. Don’t tell me you can’t me death painless for a human when many of us have experience with pets being put to sleep peacefully. General anesthesia, or the equivalent, puts you under. Another injection stops your heart. Heck, a shot to the head is unusually painless and has been available for more than a hundred years. Or fill a chamber up with carbon monoxide and let them drift off. The death penalty isn’t painless not because a painless death isn’t technically/medically possible, but because the death process itself is viewed by the family of the victim and is supposed to be a punishment/ deterrent. Dying is designed to be as awful as the 8th amendment will allow. Which under the current court could probably include sawing fingers off one by one, then hands and feet, then limbs until the person bleeds out. It’s not like the most evolved states still executing people or federal death sentences are carried out under Dem presidents. The suffering is a feature, not a glitch. That said, I’m very anti- death penalty. I grew up in the South, in God Guns country and was pro-death penalty, because my parent were very religious, in an Old Testament way (PS, the answer to the abortion issue: aborted fetuses are free of even original sin before birth. Murders have sinned). I even went on a radio show in high school that had kids arguing both sides of issues and argued for the death penalty. And then I was a federal a law clerk for several years in the same chambers as our circuit’s federal death penalty law clerk. And we had coffee with the Judge every morning and discussed our cases. So, I saw up close and personally how the sausage was made (realize both state and federal death penalty cases go through federal appeals— state convictions under a habeas petition). I I discovered that the heinousness of the crime matters a lot less in who get the death penalty that whether the prisoner could afford a good attorney, or was assigned a good attorney, at trial (SPLC or BigLaw Pro Bono often pick up death penalty appeals pro bono and many of those who receive the death penalty do get good representation on appeal, but by then it’s often too late. In my 4 years, zero death penalty convictions were sent by the federal Courts back to the state for a new trial. Things that did not matter in predicting whether someone would get the death penalty were NOT whether it was a hate crime, or whether violence involved, or rape pr torture before death (the one caveat was kids— particularly heinous kids death might override white privilege— or might not). Things that mattered a lot included the color of the person’s skin, their religion, their gender (juries really don’t like executing women) and the political leaning of the area where they were convicted. Poor mentally ill black guy with crap attorney and a rural jury will get the death penalty. Wealthy white guy from a larger city without good legal representation does not— even if the crimes were identical in every other way. We had a shaken baby death at the hands of a black boyfriend, and to show bias on appeal, the attorneys showed an almost identical fact pattern in the same county with a couple years of the crime, the big exception being a white defendant— he did not get the death penalty. And of course, the biggest predictor is what state you live in. Some states have no death penalty (or like CA, do have it on the books, but there is zero chance of execution). Aand the federal death penalty only applies in narrow circumstances— hate crimes, terrorism and a couple others. And appeals took years— sometimes more than a decade. And during this time, some families called us weekly for updates. They lives in suspended animation while appeals worked their way through about 6 level state and federal combined. And during this time the family got no closure. And maybe you can ever get closure and heal after the murder of a loved one. But, you certainly cannot if you re constantly waiting for the next decision. In he meantime, unbelievable amount of resources were poured in the case of someone who really didn’t deserve them, while PD offices and victims compensation funds were starved. Other problems— in my state, appellate Judges were elected (vs being appointed for life or a set term with no extension allowed) and the state was conservative. Even egregious issues at the trial did not overturn convictions, because Judges have cushy gigs, and had to face voters every 4 years. And overturning a death penalty conviction and send ing it back for a new trial writes its own attack ads. And, only a very, very narrow range of issues are considered in federal appeals of a state case. For example, after DNA testing became widespread, people were executed even when the was some actual doubt about guilt and DNA samples were available that would given close to 100% certainty. The state against attorneys trying to pay for the testing themselves— and in at least one case where the testing happened and proved someone else did it, the person was executed anyway, because they had exhausted their state appeals and actual innocence is not an issue considered in federal appeals. The straw that broke my back was the guy with a decent attorney who made an honest mistake and counted a holiday wrong in determining a due date to file an appeal (they counted business days, and the attorney counted a state holiday that was not a federal holiday in a federal court filing) and incorrectly filed the appeal a day late. As a result, his client missed his appeal rights— including the ability to argue ineffective assistance based on the late brief (which is pretty dang ineffective assistance). Last I saw, he was set to be executed— I didn’t follow after that because it was heartbreaking and gross. Then again, good chance it would not have mattered because at the federal level, ineffective assistance is one of the few issues you can argue and it is almost impossible for the convict to win on it and get a new trial. A lawyer repeatedly called out by the Judge for sleeping through the trial, a lawyer in Court who was clearly drunk or under the influence, etc ARE NOT ineffective assistance of counsel on appeal unless the convict can show it would have changed the outcome of the trial (burden of proof of the convict). A prosecutor intentionally withholding Brady material will get them a disciplinary hearing, but will not automatically get you a new trial once you hit the federal level. Newly discovered exculpatory evidence or witnesses recanting (even if alleging that they were snitches and the police told them testify to this or you’re going to jail) won’t get a new trial either. But here’s what may be the two things. First, prosecutors leverage the death penalty to get plea bargains. And some people will falsely confess because they know the system works against black guys in rural areas who cannot afford attorneys. And you can’t appeal from a plea bargain. And even worst— bad convictions happen everyday at all level of the criminal justice system. And normally, the person is released and sent on their way with a financial settlement. That can’t happen if the person is dead. In the end, the states are too high— literally life or death— for the process to be unfair (and not treat all defendants equally) and not 100% accurate. And neither of these things are close to being true right now. Long answer, but I think this is an enormously important issue and that people don’t understand the process— because it’s complex— or realize just how unfair these life and death decisions are. |
Anonymous
Honestly at this point I don’t even know. I’m not sure that would stop him from trying. |
Anonymous
It doesn’t matter what they whisper. At this point they are forging his signature. |
Anonymous
Please. It's not the Dems who went left, it's the Republicans who went so far right that Reagan himself wouldn't recognize the party. Your party leader is a convicted felon. |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
Of course there is. Hanging and shooting are patently Constitutional. The guillotine probably would be too. |
Anonymous
I think that there are situations where this standard would be met. Indeed, the cases Biden didn’t pardon seem to fit. |
Anonymous
+1 |