DOJ to seek death penalty in Buffalo shooting case despite Biden 2020 pledge

The notice in Gendron’s case represents the third death penalty sentence pursued at trial by the Justice Department in the Biden administration despite President Biden’s campaign pledge in 2020 to work to end the federal death penalty altogether. 

What does "work to end" mean? That would require a new law. 

He could commute all people on death row. Some governors are limited in their pardon power. Biden, however, cannot on his own end the federal death penalty altogether. 

The Justice Department has also argued in appeals courts in defense of existing federal death sentences. 

This basically is a matter of protecting their discretion. 

And though Garland placed a moratorium on the carrying out of federal executions, the execution spree carried out during the Trump administration sent 13 people to their death and harshly illustrated the limits of a moratorium.

This is a warning. President Obama did not totally oppose the death penalty. Nonetheless, no one was executed on his watch. Only three people were executed (including Timothy McVeigh) since the 1960s. 

The test here is what President Biden will do before he leaves office. If Congress (as is likely) will not end the death penalty (retroactively at that), it will be up to Biden to decide if he should leave the death row filled. Obama is likely to have found many of the thirteen executions problematic.  

Chris Geidner and others have flagged the Justice Department's capital punishment policy. The person here murdered ten people. The others also were mass murderers. There is a pure principle involved when you wish to deny juries the opportunity to choose in such cases. 

Biden noted that he supported LWOP for even these people. He has the power to commute sentences. The person involved here has been sentenced to LWOP. There is a certain gratuitous quality to trying for more. Civil rights groups have come against this specific race-based murderer getting the death penalty. I don't know the split among the victims' families.

I think a case can be made that there is a difference between Biden's promise and continuing to try to obtain death sentences in limited cases. President Biden also campaigned on the strong independence of the Justice Department. He did not campaign on "doing every single thing I can" to stop the death penalty in any form. The quote references "legislation." 

I understand how those strongly against the death penalty could be upset. I also think there are degrees. It is three cases involving mass murderers. A few people act like Biden did nothing and is a big hypocrite. That is not fair. There is a moratorium in place on executions. 

The Biden Administration still is off base here. A moratorium is in place. While the moratorium is in place, no more executions should be put in the works. This includes providing judges and juries the opportunity to sentence people to death. It continues a broken system. 

President Biden can formally establish a rule, under his pardon power, to commute any death sentence. It would be costly symbolism to have a jury sentence someone to death under that policy. I have not seen this, but apparently, the idea is that the President does not want to interfere with the Justice Department's prosecutorial discretion. 

He can still -- citing various constitutional and policy concerns -- draw up such a policy. His pardon power -- which should be used more (and Congress can help) -- is a special constitutional power in his hands. 

Ultimately, how much bite is in his promise (there are various promises; how passionate he is about it is unclear) will be seen by what he does before the end of his term. If he is truly against the death penalty, leaving a future president (not necessarily on Republican) to execute people is dubious. 

I support pushing him here. Also, to be fair to him overall.