this post was submitted on 24 Dec 2024
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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.

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[–] stevedice@sh.itjust.works 62 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (45 children)

While I'm overall glad about this, leaving 3 unpardoned inmates really corrupts the "moral stance against federal executions" justification and makes it seem like he is in favor of capital punishment but only for people he thinks deserve it. It also makes it seem like he believes it's his decision to decide who gets to live and that rubs me the wrong way.

[–] Nightwingdragon@lemmy.world 39 points 1 day ago (35 children)

Even the most die-hard anti-death-penalty believer has their limits. It may take Hitler-level atrocities to get there, or maybe even worse. But everyone has their own line in the sand where even they will say "If there was ever a case in favor of the death penalty, this is that case." That line is in a completely different place for everybody.

It also makes it seem like he believes it’s his decision to decide who gets to live and that rubs me the wrong way.

Since the President has final pardon power, he actually does get to decide who gets to live. It's a power granted to him by the Constitution.

[–] Determinism@kbin.earth 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I have no such limits. Death, as a penalty, is always unjust because humans do not have free will. Every action, every thought, has some biological, or neurochemical, or material basis for it's happening. Inflicting any form of punishment or suffering on the qualia, the conscious experience of someone, for the illusion of choice we believe to have, is actually just inflicting suffering on innocent beings, because we have no choice.

Now, that's not too say I'm anti-violence. But I firmly believe that every piece of violence should be evaluated as if it was being done against an innocent person. Things like "guilt" or "they deserve it" should not be taken into the calculation when doing violence at all, only the benefits it has to the rest of society. If you are in the position to levy death as a punishment, I would rather just see them locked up for life.

[–] Nightwingdragon@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Death, as a penalty, is always unjust because humans do not have free will.

By this logic, all laws are unjust and humans aren't responsible for their actions.

[–] Determinism@kbin.earth 1 points 12 hours ago

humans aren't responsible for their actions.

Yes! Humans are indeed, not culpable for their actions because we have no free will.

Now, I won't go into the nuances of laws here, but I do find punishing people for the sake of punishment, or out of some sense of "they deserve it" to be problematic because all humans are innocent.

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