Thursday, October 14, 2021

 

Political Mayhem Thursday, Supreme Court Edition

 
 

Yesterday in the Supreme Court, the Justices heard arguments in the case of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, one of the two brothers who set off bombs at the Boston Marathon in 2013. Three people died and hundreds were injured by the horrible act. His death sentence had been overturned by the First Circuit court of appeals based on the trial judge's failures in questioning jurors and admitting evidence. One issue was the exclusion of evidence that could have helped show that Tsarnaev was acting under the influence and control of his older brother, Tamerlan.
 
It's troubling that the case was in front of the Supreme Court at all. Joe Biden ran for office as an opponent of the death penalty, and has imposed a moratorium on executions during his term. It's morally inconsistent to stop executions while he is president while continuing to pursue the death penalty in an existing case, knowing a subsequent president may well lift the moratorium. After all, the government did not have to appeal the 1st Circuit's decision. Instead they forged ahead. 

The conservative judges (a 6-3 majority) seem poised to overturn the circuit court and reinstate the death penalty. Which will add another person to a death row that this administration does not plan to use for its intended purpose.

Naturally, this weird outcome is directed by politics; the marathon bombing was an awful tragedy, and there is little sympathy for Tsarnaev.  It would take real boldness to treat the issue with integrity and commute the sentences of all those on death row-- but boldness (outside of spending) does not seem to be the modus operandi of Joe Biden.
 
 

# posted by Mark Osler @ 1:00 AM
Comments:
Does the president have power over which cases the SC hears? Or are you saying that he could have possibly influenced them by publicly urging against this particular case?
# posted by Blogger Heather Garcia : 6:02 PM
 
Not directly - but the government did not have to appeal the 1st circuit decision.
# posted by Blogger Mark Osler : 11:54 AM
 
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