366
submitted 23 hours ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/politics@lemmy.world

Summary

President Joe Biden commuted the sentences of 37 federal death row inmates to life without parole, sparing all but three convicted of high-profile mass killings.

Biden framed the decision as a moral stance against federal executions, citing his legal background and belief in the dignity of human life.

Donald Trump criticized the move as senseless, vowing to reinstate the death penalty.

Reactions were mixed: some victims’ families condemned Biden, while others supported his decision. Human rights groups praised it as a significant step against capital punishment.

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] macattack@lemmy.world 1 points 11 minutes ago* (last edited 11 minutes ago)

Biden: Grants clemency indiscriminately for 1,500 people indiscriminately Public: Why did you let the Cash for Kids woman free Biden: Commutes death sentences selectively Public: Who made you judge, jury and executioner?

[-] pixeltree@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 1 hour ago

I don't think the government should have the power to kill people as a punishment, with that said I'm also not upset that the sentences of these three weren't commuted.

[-] dx1@lemmy.world 3 points 1 hour ago

View these through the lens of each politician acting in their personal self-interest (which both of them have thoroughly demonstrated to be their only priority). What do they care one way or the other? This is political theater where they're playing with the lives of the people in question.

[-] macattack@lemmy.world 1 points 16 minutes ago* (last edited 15 minutes ago)

Yes, I also agree that the president that commuted many death sentences is exactly the same as the president wanting to execute all of the prisoners

[-] danc4498@lemmy.world 45 points 12 hours ago

Good conservative Christian’s LOVE killing!

[-] sik0fewl@lemmy.ca 7 points 1 hour ago

Nothing says "pro life" like whining about not being able to murder someone.

[-] Zementid@feddit.nl 2 points 1 hour ago

Nothing shouts "Christian" than revenge murder.

[-] werefreeatlast@lemmy.world 3 points 9 hours ago

He still has one shot! No, sorry, I mean he has 3 shots remaining!

He could do the George Carling thing... Upside down nailed to the cross and or launched from a Canon point blank on to a very thick concrete wall. And televise it.

Its just a suggesting to make the best of things.

[-] HawlSera@lemm.ee 12 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago)

One of the three he didn't pardon was Dylann Roof. I thought they fried his ass already, had no idea he was still alive.

I did wonder why the three that weren't spared were left to die.. and I still kinda do.

Also I'm kinda surprised Trump didn't pardon Dylann Roof.

[-] frayedpickles@lemmy.cafe 2 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

It answers this question in the article -- didn't pardon mass murderers

[-] MrNobody@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 hour ago

Did no such thing, simply stated who the three that didn't get commuted were, nothing about why they didn't get it.

[-] suburban_hillbilly@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 hour ago

It's because the entire party got justifiably shellacked in the press and court of public opinion for pardoning one of the kids for cash judges. This happened where I live and I remember the outrage over the absurdly light sentences they recieved to begin with, clemency on top was just too much for many of us to stomach.

Some people really don't deserve second chance or eleventh hour stay.

[-] ChairmanMeow@programming.dev 1 points 7 hours ago

Because the media now mostly mentions the three bastards who didn't have their sentences commuted, instead of the 37 that did. Changes the focus. Now people agree with Biden not to commute these sentences, and don't think much more about the ones that were commuted.

[-] frayedpickles@lemmy.cafe 1 points 2 hours ago

Wow someone is itching to kill people. You can always go join up in Ukraine. Or Israel if you just want to shoot civilians.

[-] ChairmanMeow@programming.dev 2 points 1 hour ago

What? I'm categorically against the death penalty. I don't think it's controversial to think Roof is a bastard for what he did.

[-] stevedice@sh.itjust.works 54 points 18 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago)

While I'm overall glad about this, leaving 3 unpardoned inmates really corrupts the "moral stance against federal executions" justification and makes it seem like he is in favor of capital punishment but only for people he thinks deserve it. It also makes it seem like he believes it's his decision to decide who gets to live and that rubs me the wrong way.

[-] Nightwingdragon@lemmy.world 37 points 17 hours ago

Even the most die-hard anti-death-penalty believer has their limits. It may take Hitler-level atrocities to get there, or maybe even worse. But everyone has their own line in the sand where even they will say "If there was ever a case in favor of the death penalty, this is that case." That line is in a completely different place for everybody.

It also makes it seem like he believes it’s his decision to decide who gets to live and that rubs me the wrong way.

Since the President has final pardon power, he actually does get to decide who gets to live. It's a power granted to him by the Constitution.

[-] greedytacothief@lemmy.world 22 points 16 hours ago

Yep I'm anti-death penalty, the 3 that didn't get pardoned should probably just live the rest of their lives in prison. But I'm not going to shed any tears for them.

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (23 replies)
load more comments (9 replies)
[-] AidsKitty@lemmy.world 19 points 15 hours ago

It's odd when you think about it. Republicans don't want abortion but whole heartedly support executions. Democrats are against executions but whole heartedly support abortion. Welcome to America.

[-] Test_Tickles@lemmy.world 5 points 2 hours ago

Conservatives aren't anti-murder, they are pro-suffering.
They are anti-abortion, because they don't ever get a chance to make the fetus suffer. And golly, the mother barely gets dehumanized at all.
Just think about all the in suffering that fetus skipped by not getting a disease that is easily preventable with a vaccination, and also, it will never know the hell of getting sick from drinking raw milk.

[-] psivchaz@reddthat.com 23 points 14 hours ago

It's more odd to me that the ones who believe in original sin and forgiveness for everything are the ones anti-abortion and pro-execution.

load more comments (11 replies)
[-] orbular@lemmy.today 0 points 6 hours ago

I can't help but wonder if this is an assignment to "clear the wait list" for if/when Mangione gets convicted? I don't quite understand the system but it seems many people on death row spend so many years waiting for the bureaucratic processes to complete before their lives are taken.

[-] enbyecho@lemmy.world 1 points 59 minutes ago

It's not a FIFO waiting list.

[-] Dragonstaff@leminal.space 4 points 5 hours ago

The processes that need to complete have very little to do with other death row inmates, so this doesn't particularly make much sense.

Death penalty cases ostensibly get the most "due process", as you would expect, and the time is spent in appeals etc. Don't get me wrong, it's a barbaric system, we handle it terribly, and I'd say we routinely execute innocent people. But I can't think of any way this clemency will help them kill Mangione much more quickly.

load more comments
view more: next ›
this post was submitted on 24 Dec 2024
366 points (98.9% liked)

politics

19239 readers
1944 users here now

Welcome to the discussion of US Politics!

Rules:

  1. Post only links to articles, Title must fairly describe link contents. If your title differs from the site’s, it should only be to add context or be more descriptive. Do not post entire articles in the body or in the comments.

Links must be to the original source, not an aggregator like Google Amp, MSN, or Yahoo.

Example:

  1. Articles must be relevant to politics. Links must be to quality and original content. Articles should be worth reading. Clickbait, stub articles, and rehosted or stolen content are not allowed. Check your source for Reliability and Bias here.
  2. Be civil, No violations of TOS. It’s OK to say the subject of an article is behaving like a (pejorative, pejorative). It’s NOT OK to say another USER is (pejorative). Strong language is fine, just not directed at other members. Engage in good-faith and with respect! This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.
  3. No memes, trolling, or low-effort comments. Reposts, misinformation, off-topic, trolling, or offensive. Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.
  4. Vote based on comment quality, not agreement. This community aims to foster discussion; please reward people for putting effort into articulating their viewpoint, even if you disagree with it.
  5. No hate speech, slurs, celebrating death, advocating violence, or abusive language. This will result in a ban. Usernames containing racist, or inappropriate slurs will be banned without warning

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.

That's all the rules!

Civic Links

Register To Vote

Citizenship Resource Center

Congressional Awards Program

Federal Government Agencies

Library of Congress Legislative Resources

The White House

U.S. House of Representatives

U.S. Senate

Partnered Communities:

News

World News

Business News

Political Discussion

Ask Politics

Military News

Global Politics

Moderate Politics

Progressive Politics

UK Politics

Canadian Politics

Australian Politics

New Zealand Politics

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS