The US president-elect said today that he will direct the Justice Department when he takes office on January 20 to “vigorously pursue” its enforcement to protect Americans from “violent rapists, murderers and beasts.”
Trump’s statement on Truth Social (a social media outlet he owns) comes a day after the outgoing Democratic president commuted 37 death sentences to life in prison. The 37 death row inmates had been convicted by federal courts.
“Once sworn in, I will direct the Department of Justice to vigorously pursue the death penalty to protect American families and children from savage rapists, killers and beasts,” said Trump, a long-standing supporter of the death penalty.
Biden suspended federal executions when he took office in January 2021.
In early December, more than 130 organizations, including the ACLU and Amnesty International USA, reminded the outgoing US president of his 2020 campaign pledge against the death penalty. These organizations expressed concern about a “wave of executions” following Trump’s return to the presidency.
Unlike executive orders, clemency decisions cannot be overturned by the president’s successor, although the death penalty may be more aggressively pursued in future cases.
The Trump transition team yesterday denounced the Biden decision, calling it a despicable decision that favors convicts who are “among the worst murderers in the world.”
Federal executions are rare in the US, with most being carried out by the states. Of the approximately 2,300 inmates on death row in the US, only 40 had been sentenced by the federal judiciary before today’s announcement.
The last federal executions took place during Trump’s presidency: After a 17-year hiatus, 13 inmates were executed from July 14, 2020, to January 16, 2021, the most during a single US presidential term in 120 years.
RES/EMP
