In July of 2020, President Donald Trump resumed federal executions after they had spent 17 years as a historical fact instead of standing policy. The move outraged death sentence opponents but was lauded by many members of the president’s dedicated base.
Many have noted how Trump’s resuming of the practice plays into his “law and order” rhetoric regarding law enforcement, calling for more police funding, stricter sentencing, and a more active approach to the death penalty.
On Friday, December 11, the first execution of a federal inmate during a lame-duck period in 130 years took place. Brandon Bernard, a former street gang member, was executed over two decades after he played a role in the deaths of a religious couple from Iowa.
Bernard’s death came as an outrage to many activists, while some members of the couple’s family publicly thanked Trump for resuming executions so they could have closure.
The Death Penalty
Opponents to the death penalty have noted that it sends a complicated message about the justice system’s role in meting out punishment. Consigning someone to death, even over heinous crimes, becomes morally complicated.
The people who have to administer the penalty themselves become killers: even if they do so on court order, they have to administer death and watch another human being die.
Executioners and witnesses to executions have noted that this grim process is extremely emotionally distressing. The cold, pre-determined nature of the executions adds to the gruesomeness for some: the lack of passion and clinical nature of the executions make some. prison staff feel like they’ve committed a horrible act.
Brandon Bernard Execution
The December execution of Brandon Bernard sparked another round of discussion regarding the death penalty. One of the prosecutors from Bernard’s 2000 court case pleaded with President Donald Trump to commute Bernard’s sentence to life in prison.
According to the lawyer, he felt as though the all-white jury sentenced Bernard to death partly out of racial bias: Bernard, who is black, was in his teens at the time of the crime.
Public figures like Kim Kardashian West had also publicly called on Trump to commute Bernard’s death sentence. In a public statement, Kardashian West told reporters that her last phone call with Bernard was the “[h]ardest call I’ve ever had. Brandon, selfless as always, was focused on his family and making sure they are ok. He told me not to cry because our fight isn’t over.”
As the presidential transfer takes place, it is unlikely President-elect Joe Biden will continue to administer the death penalty at the federal level. Biden has indicated in the past that he is opposed to the death penalty.
