WASHINGTON, D.C. – With Donald Trump returning to the White House, federal execution becomes another looming concern for the public, and death penalty opponents are urging mass commutations to stop another federal execution spree, writes The Intercept.
The Thanksgiving tradition of pardoning turkeys has long been a lighthearted ceremony, but for people aware of the recent history of the federal death penalty, the act can seem out of place because there is still a lingering memory of the previous federal execution spree, which took place under Trump’s presidency, according to The Intercept.
In November 2020, just five days after Orlando Hall was executed in the federal death chamber, Trump appeared in the White House Rose Garden for the 2020 Thanksgiving turkey pardon ceremony, and, said The Intercept, Trump wished them a “very long, happy, and memorable life.”
According to The Intercept, there was no denying Hall’s crime was horrific—he and a group of men abducted, raped, and murdered a 16-year-old girl. However, Hall, who was Black, was convicted and sentenced to die by an all-white jury unaware of his childhood trauma. Hall’s attorneys failed to fully investigate and present this side of their client’s life.
“Trump could have used his pardon or clemency powers to spare any one of the five human beings facing imminent execution,” wrote one man from death row, reflecting on the scene.
Some on death row still held onto hope, believing that the next man, Brandon Bernard—whose life five jurors from his trial later said should be spared—might be granted clemency, noting, “Perhaps President Trump will show an uncharacteristic display of humanity,” one inmate wrote, The Intercept writes.
Yet, the executions that had started that summer showed no signs of slowing down, according to The Intercept, and by the time Joe Biden arrived in the Oval Office in 2021, 13 people had been killed in the federal death chamber, described by The Intercept, saying, “It was an unprecedented killing spree: more executions over six months than over the previous 10 presidential administrations combined.”
For the men and women who were executed, the failure of the federal death penalty became evident, noted The Intercept, adding the executions meant for terrorists or mass murderers are performed on inmates experiencing severe childhood abuse, mental illness, or intellectual disabilities.
The Intercept added many faced ineffective legal representation or were convicted despite playing a marginal role in their crimes.
According to The Intercept, the executions occurred at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, before vaccines were available, and resulted in infections among prison staff, lawyers, journalists, and the condemned individuals. Critics saw the spree as emblematic of Trump’s “recklessness, chaos, and cruelty.”
On a broader scale, however, the executions were also the result of a long bipartisan project, according to The Intercept. Of the 13 people executed by Trump, 10 had filed a clemency application to the Obama administration, to which he refused to act.
Now, the focus shifts to Biden, who campaigned on a promise to end the federal death penalty, The Intercept writes, quoting Biden as stating that those under a federal death sentence “should instead serve life sentences without probation or parole.”
“We’re dealing with a very different world this time,” said veteran death penalty lawyer Ruth Friedman, head of the Federal Capital Habeas Project. “People know this is a possibility because they see what has played out.”
With just 54 days remaining in his presidency, notes The Intercept, President Joe Biden faces growing pressure to use his clemency powers to commute the sentences of the 40 individuals on federal death row—the president has the authority to bypass applications and unilaterally grant commutations.
According to The Intercept, hundreds of advocacy organizations—including the American Civil Liberties Union and the Catholic Mobilizing Network—urged Biden to issue mass commutations. Groups like Death Penalty Action, which protested every execution carried out under Trump, have gone further, calling for the demolition of the federal death house.
Trump has repeatedly vowed to expand the use of capital punishment if reelected, and the roadmap known as Project 2025 explicitly calls for “finality” in the cases of the remaining 40 individuals on federal death row, according to The Intercept.
“The only way to guarantee that Trump can’t restart federal executions is for Biden to commute the sentences of everyone currently on death row,” said one abolitionist.
Last week, Biden stood in the White House Rose Garden for his third annual turkey pardon ceremony, joking about the birds’ temperament and pretending to grant clemency based on their “commitment to being productive members of society,” said The Intercept.
For the men and women on federal death row, the contrast could not be starker, according to The Intercept, which writes: “They are not asking for a pardon. They are not even asking for forgiveness for their crimes. They are asking to be spared the torture of being strapped to a gurney and killed in front of gawking strangers. They are asking for a chance to spare their loved ones the trauma of their execution. And they are asking for Biden to follow through on what he claimed to believe before he won the presidency.”
There is no time to waste, according to The Intercept story, quoting Shanyce Matthews, Orlando Hall’s partner who witnessed Hall’s lethal injection, who cried, “I think we have to start yelling about it, because to me what’s happening is we’re waiting until these guys get a date. And then the time moves so fast.”
“BIDEN PARDONS TURKEYS”
And his son, who is a turkey. I think Joe knew his son’s case would eventually implicate himself.