Ticker – Biden’s Justice Dept. keeps hard line in death row cases
CHICAGO (AP) — An Associated Press review of dozens of legal filings shows that President Joe Biden’s Justice Department is fighting just as vigorously as Donald Trump’s did to uphold death row inmates’ sentences, despite Biden’s opposition to capital punishment. Lawyers for some of the over 40 death row inmates who had hoped that Attorney General Merrick Garland may be more open to their clients’ claims of racial bias and other errors say they’ve seen no meaningful change. Garland put a temporary pause on federal executions in 2021 and has reversed decisions by previous administrations to seek it in 27 cases. But the Justice Department continues to fight to uphold the sentences of death row inmates tried under previous presidents.