President Joe Biden still wants to end the federal death penalty, even as the Justice Department pushes for the execution of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the Boston Marathon bomber.
Biden, who began to oppose the death penalty in 2019, wants the Justice Department to resume a moratorium on the practice that, prior to the Trump administration, had been suspended since 2003, said White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates.
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“President Biden has made clear that he has deep concerns about whether capital punishment is consistent with the values that are fundamental to our sense of justice and fairness,” Bates told the Washington Examiner, noting that the president will not interfere with the Justice Department’s independence in the Tsarnaev case.
Acting Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar on Monday night filed a brief calling for the Supreme Court to overturn an appeals court decision halting Tsarnaev’s execution, which he received for what Prelogar called “one of the worst” acts of terrorism in the United States since 9/11. Tsarnaev is currently serving out 20 life sentences for killing three people and wounding more than 260 others at the 2013 Boston Marathon.
“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,” Prelogar wrote. “This Court should reverse the decision below and put this case back on track toward a just conclusion.”
The Justice Department’s advocacy for the death penalty diverges from Biden’s recent promises to end the practice during his presidency. Biden first voiced opposition in 2019 after he entered the crowded field of Democratic presidential contenders. At that time, former President Donald Trump’s administration had just resumed the practice under Attorney General William Barr.
Barr said after Tsarnaev’s sentence was halted that he would do “whatever’s necessary” to see him executed.
Biden as president has not made any official declaration on ending the death penalty. When the Supreme Court in March decided to hear arguments in the Tsarnaev case, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that Biden has “grave concerns” about executions but did not elaborate on what action he would take.
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Attorney General Merrick Garland would not comment on the Tsarnaev case during his confirmation hearings because it is open litigation. Garland faced questions on the death penalty because, in 1995, he prosecuted Timothy McVeigh, who killed 168 people in the Oklahoma City bombing. Garland secured the death penalty for McVeigh and said that he thought that was the right punishment.
The Justice Department did not respond to requests for comment.
