President 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 (article available here).
In its opening brief filed Monday, the Department of Justice asked the justices to reverse the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit that vacated the death sentence for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. The appeals court ruled that the trial court had failed to adequately gauge potential jury bias and the extent to which Tsarnaev may have been influenced by his brother. Former President Donald Trump’s administration appealed the ruling. The Supreme Court agreed in March to hear the case.
The case was seen as an early challenge for Biden, the first U.S. president to publicly oppose the death penalty, and his administration’s response had been highly anticipated. But on Monday, the DOJ made clear that Biden would maintain his predecessor’s support for reinstating capital punishment against Tsarnaev.
“The court of appeals improperly vacated the capital sentences recommended by the jury in one of the most important terrorism prosecutions in our Nation’s history,” the DOJ’s brief reads. “This Court should reverse the decision below and put this case back on track toward a just conclusion.”
Tsarnaev, 27, will serve out multiple life sentences in federal prison if his death sentence is not reinstated.