Lethal injection, the capital punishment method touted as humane, has reportedly been responsible for numerous botched executions. Demand leaders hit the pause button on a practice that is seemingly torturing human beings to death.
Susan Walsh/AP
Dozens of members of Congress have called on President-elect Joe Biden to abolish the death penalty in all jurisdictions on his first day in office, CNN reported.
The call comes after the execution of Brandon Bernard during a presidential lame-duck period.
Activists had previously called on President Donald Trump to halt Bernard s execution, as well as other scheduled during the presidential transition period.
Forty members of Congress and three recently elected members are urging President-elect Joe Biden to abolish the death penalty in all jurisdictions on his first day in office, CNN reported.
The call was voiced in a letter written by Rep. Ayanna Pressley and sent to Biden s transition team. In the letter, Pressley slams President Donald Trump s administration for executing more people in six months than the total number executed over the previous six decades.
Reviewing CJUTF Recommendations: how might the Biden Administration seek to abolish the death penalty?
Right after the election, I blogged a bit (here and here) about some criminal justice reform recommendations from the Biden-Sanders Unity Task Force (available here pp. 56-62, called the CJUTF hereinafter). A few weeks ago, as explained here, I decided to start a series of posts to spotlight and amplify some recommendations from the CJUTF that ought to be of particular interest to sentencing fans. In the wake of two more notable federal executions last week (noted here and here), this post will focus on a recommendation that speaks of abolition, and here it is:
Biden stumps for Georgia runoff candidates Ossoff and Warnock
From CNN s Kate Sullivan
President-elect Joe Biden speaks at a drive-in rally for Georgia Democratic candidates for US Senate Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, Tuesday, December 15, in Atlanta. Patrick Semansky/AP
President-elect Joe Biden traveled to Georgia on Tuesday to campaign for Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, the two Democrats who are challenging incumbent Republican Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler in a pair of January runoff races that will determine which party controls the US Senate. They ll actually fight for you, represent you, stand up for you, Biden said of Ossoff and Warnock.