A group of congressional Democrats is urging the Trump administration to halt federal executions until the incoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Sen. Kamala Harris, can “evaluate and determine” the future of the death penalty (press release available here).
In the letter dated Friday to the Attorney General, the lawmakers stated the administration “recklessly” restarted federal executions in July after a 17-year hiatus. “In less than three months, the Administration executed seven people — more than the total number executed over the past six decades,” reads the letter signed by Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley.
The letter also noted that minorities are disproportionately impacted by capital punishment. “The death penalty in America is disproportionately imposed on Black and Brown people and low income people, and at least 172 people sentenced to death have reportedly been exonerated after languishing for years on death row,” the letter said.
The death penalty is outlawed in 21 states, including Massachusetts, Illinois, Vermont, and New Jersey.