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.

  • pyre@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    5
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    edit-2
    1 day ago

    I don’t understand the reasoning. you can’t say you are anti death penalty and believe in dignity and sanctity of life or whatever but then turn around and say “except for these three motherfuckers”…

    • pixeltree@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      16 hours ago

      I don’t think the government should be able to execute them. However, I am human, they’re mass murders, and it’s a situation I have no control over, so I’m not going to feel bad about not feeling bad that they’re still on death row. I don’t get to choose how I feel, just how I act. If it were me making the decision, I’d like to think I’d have commuted their sentences as well, even though I probably would have felt bad about doing so.

      Although also, thinking about your comment more, I guess I don’t really care about sanctity of life or anything like that. It’s more of a power problem for me. Some people deserve to be killed, however nobody should be making that judgement and following through, because it’s not something that can be accurately judged. No one should have that power, especially the people in charge. When someone dies who I feel deserves it, it not going to upset me. Would I have killed them? No. Would I have prevented their death if I could? Honestly, questionable, depending on the person and situation. Is that hypocritical? I don’t know, maybe. There might not be an effective difference, killing through inaction vs killing through action, but there feels like a difference to me. Life isn’t black and white, I’m driven by a malfunctioning blob of meat, and I do the best I can. I take great comfort in the fact I’m never going to have to make that choice. I hope this gives you some insight into how I view things.