WEATHER ALERT
Relief, defiance, anger: Families and advocates react to Biden's death row commutations
Read full article: Relief, defiance, anger: Families and advocates react to Biden's death row commutationsVictims’ families and others affected by crimes that resulted in federal death row convictions are sharing a range of emotions, from relief to anger, after President Joe Biden commuted dozens of the sentences.
Biden gives life in prison to 37 of 40 federal death row inmates before Trump can resume executions
Read full article: Biden gives life in prison to 37 of 40 federal death row inmates before Trump can resume executionsPresident Joe Biden is commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 people on federal death row.
Defense attorneys for Boston Marathon bomber seek recusal of judge overseeing case
Read full article: Defense attorneys for Boston Marathon bomber seek recusal of judge overseeing caseAttorneys for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev are seeking to remove the judge overseeing the protracted legal battle over Tsarnaev’s death sentence.
Appeals court orders judge to probe claims of juror bias in Boston Marathon bomber's case
Read full article: Appeals court orders judge to probe claims of juror bias in Boston Marathon bomber's caseA federal appeals court has ordered the judge who oversaw Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s trial to investigate the defense’s claims of juror bias and determine whether his death sentence should stand.
Senate talks terror prevention since Boston Marathon bombing
Read full article: Senate talks terror prevention since Boston Marathon bombingThe chair of the U.S. Senate subcommittee on emerging national security threats said at a hearing in Washington that much has been learned about enhancing emergency responses since the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, but more ca be done.
Boston remembers deadly marathon bombing 10 years later
Read full article: Boston remembers deadly marathon bombing 10 years laterThe 10th anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombing is being marked with a wreath laying at the finish line to remember those who were killed, a day of community service and an event for the public to gather to reflect on the tragedy.
Biden's Justice Dept. keeps hard line in death row cases
Read full article: Biden's Justice Dept. keeps hard line in death row casesAn Associated Press review of dozens of legal filings shows that President Joe Biden’s Justice Department is fighting just as vigorously as Donald Trump's did to uphold death row inmates' sentences, despite Biden's opposition to capital punishment.
Judge OKs marathon bomber's COVID payment going to victims
Read full article: Judge OKs marathon bomber's COVID payment going to victimsA U.S. District Court judge has agreed to let federal prosecutors use convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's $1,400 COVID-19 stimulus payment to help pay the millions of dollars he is ordered to pay his victims.
House panel demands information on federal execution drug
Read full article: House panel demands information on federal execution drugThe House Oversight Committee is demanding the Justice Department provide answers about whether Biden administration officials plan to procure the drug used in federal executions despite an ongoing moratorium on capital punishment.
Biden's silence on executions adds to death penalty disarray
Read full article: Biden's silence on executions adds to death penalty disarrayActivists widely expected Joe Biden to take swift action against the death penalty as the first sitting president to oppose capital punishment, but the White House has been mostly silent.
US urges court to reimpose Boston bomber's death sentence
Read full article: US urges court to reimpose Boston bomber's death sentencePresident Joe Biden’s administration is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to reinstate the death sentence for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev despite the president’s vocal opposition to capital punishment.
Court could reimpose Boston Marathon bomber's death sentence
Read full article: Court could reimpose Boston Marathon bomber's death sentenceThe Supreme Court will consider reinstating the death sentence for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, presenting President Joe Biden with an early test of his opposition to capital punishment. The case wont be heard until the fall, and its unclear how the new administration will approach Tsarnaevs case. The initial prosecution and decision to seek a death sentence was made by the Obama administration, in which Biden served as vice president. AdBiden has pledged to seek an end to the federal death penalty, but he has said nothing about how he plans to do so. Even if the court were to reinstate the death sentence, nothing would force Biden to schedule an execution date.
Big challenge: Biden is pressed to end federal death penalty
Read full article: Big challenge: Biden is pressed to end federal death penaltyAction to stop scheduling new executions could take immediate pressure off Biden from opponents of the death penalty. But they want him to go much further, from bulldozing the federal death chamber in Terre Haute, Indiana, to striking the death penalty from U.S. statutes entirely. In the 22 states that have struck the death penalty from their statutes, none succeeded in passing the required laws without bipartisan support. Q: WILL BIDEN GET PUSHBACK IF HE SEEKS TO END THE FEDERAL DEATH PENALTY? Biden may also feel an obligation to do something big on the death penalty, given his past support for it.
Prospect of 2nd Boston Marathon bomber trial brings anguish
Read full article: Prospect of 2nd Boston Marathon bomber trial brings anguishBut President Donald Trump tweeted on Sunday that the federal government must again seek the Death Penalty in a do-over of that chapter of the original trial." Yet, victims and their family members have long been divided over the death penalty for Tsarnaev. Others infuriated by the appeals court's decision say they are prepared to face Tsarnaev in court again, if need be. Liz Norden, whose two sons who each lost a leg, also hopes prosecutors continue to go after the death penalty. "I just think if we dont follow through with the death penalty in this type of crime, what would fit it?"
Ruling renews fairness debate in Boston Marathon bomber case
Read full article: Ruling renews fairness debate in Boston Marathon bomber caseA federal appeals court has overturned the death sentence of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, Friday, July 31, 2020, saying the judge who oversaw the case didn't adequately screen jurors for potential biases. When it comes to death penalty cases, the U.S. Supreme Court has been much more pro-prosecution than many of the circuit courts, said Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center. Should Friday's ruling stand, attention will shift to whether an impartial jury can be impaneled in a city still traumatized by the 2013 attack. Tsarnaev's defense team may renew its request to transfer the case out of Boston, where they have long contended public opinion is immutably slanted. Everybody in the community understands where Boston Strong came from, Dunham said.