A Pause in Federal Executions, but Uncertainty About What's Next nytimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from nytimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Updated
12 hours ago
Attorney General Merrick Garland Orders Moratorium On Federal Executions
The Justice Department will review its policies and procedures related to capital cases during this pause.
Attorney General Merrick Garland ordered a moratorium on federal executions on Thursday ―
citing “serious concerns” about the continued use of the death penalty in the U.S., including the “arbitrariness in its application, disparate impact on people of color, and the troubling number of exonerations in capital and other serious cases.”
“Those weighty concerns deserve careful study and evaluation by lawmakers,” Garland said in a memorandum to senior officials, adding that no further federal executions would be scheduled while the Justice Department reviews its “policies and procedures” related to capital cases.
He embarked on a massive spending agenda that expanded federal safety net programs and seeks to add government benefits for college, child care, health care and paid sick leave.
“Big government is back, and it’s back under the auspices of this quote-unquote national emergency,” said Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.
The activist approach to governing imbues Mr. Biden’s union agenda.
The president gave multiple plugs for unions in his address to a joint session of Congress and urged lawmakers to pass the “PRO Act,” which would nullify right-to-work laws across the country and expand union power.
This week in history: April 26-May 2 wsws.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wsws.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.