A group of Democratic senators led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., is seeking an investigation into the resumption of federal executions in 2020 after a 17-year stop on the practice.
"This spree of executions marks a break with both modern history and decades-old practice," the senators say in a letter to Michael Horowitz, inspector general of the Department of Justice on Tuesday, The Hill reported.
"Prior to the Trump administration's revival of federal executions, the federal government had not executed a federal prisoner since 2003 and has only executed three people in the previous 50 years," the letter notes. "And the executions that have and are scheduled to occur after Nov. 3, 2020 are 'the first executions under a "lame duck" president in over 100 years,' and come despite the fact that President-elect Joe Biden has said he intends to end the use of capital punishment by the federal government while in office."
Eight senators signed the letter: Warren; Cory Booker, D-N.J.,; Dick Durbin, D-Ill.; Chris Van Hollen, D-Md.; Ed Markey, D-Mass.; Bernie Sanders I-Vt.; Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.; and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio.
The group includes Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who caucuses with Democrats and has run twice for president as a Democrat.
Seven inmates were executed in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas, and Missouri in the first seven months of the year, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. But since then no state executions have taken place, with COVID-19 restrictions partly cited.
However, 10 federal executions have taken place since state executions ended, beginning with Daniel Lewis Lee, a white supremacist who was convicted of torturing and killing a family in 1996.
"The reversal of long-standing DOJ policies and protocols for federal executions raise numerous questions about the fairness and application of these policies and protocols by the Trump administration," the lawmakers wrote. "What was the policy rationale for the 2019 reversal of long-standing policies and processes that prevented federal executions since 2003? Did DOJ officials conduct appropriate analyses and review when determining whether to reverse those policies and procedures?"
Biden has vowed to stop federal executions once in office, but three more are set to die before he takes office Jan. 20.
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