By Lauren Nutall
Howard University News Service
Prisoner advocates are alarmed by President Donald Trump’s executive order to restore the death penalty. They fear that the order will be used to target individuals and worsen existing biases within the prosecutorial system.
“People who end up in prison are Black and Brown; people who are given the death penalty are Black and Brown. So it’s disproportionate,” said Pamela Bailey, executive director and co-founder of More Than Our Crimes, a nonprofit organization aimed at providing a second chance to former federally incarcerated individuals and advocating for rehabilitation.
In his executive order, one of about two dozen signed on his first day, Trump said that “capital punishment is an essential tool for deterring and punishing those who would commit the most heinous crimes and acts of lethal violence against American citizens.”
“Yet for too long,” the order reads, “politicians and judges who oppose capital punishment have defied and subverted the laws of our country.”
Trump asserts that his administration will seek to overrule Supreme Court precedents that limit the authority of state and federal governments to use capital punishment.
Additionally, the order requires the pursuit of the death penalty in cases involving the death of a police officer or if a capital crime is committed by an undocumented migrant. Some activists have expressed concern about what this means for the incarcerated, particularly those who are members of marginalized communities.
Trump’s decision to reinstate the death penalty federally is a far cry from the actions of former President Joe Biden, who commuted the sentences of 37 out of 40 individuals on death row during his remaining months in office.
Another element of the order that has ignited concern is Trump’s instruction for the U.S. Attorney General to inspect the prisons where those 37 people are incarcerated to ensure that their conditions are “consistent with the monstrosity of their crimes and the threats they pose.”
“I find it really concerning, because you already have a lot of very corrupt correctional officers who use their positions of authority in very wrong ways,” Bailey said, “and this gives them cover to find those individuals and mistreat them in ways that happened at other prisons.”
Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi is Trump’s nominee for U.S. Attorney General and would be responsible for enforcing these directives. The role also requires close oversight of the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense.
Bondi’s selection has stirred controversy among several organizations including the Leadership Conference of Civil and Human Rights and the National Immigrant Justice Center. The latter penned an open statement opposing her nomination, alleging that Bondi would be in charge of overseeing mass detention and deportation efforts to satisfy groups with a vested interest.
“NIJC recommended that senators oppose the nomination based on Ms. Bondi’s problematic role as a lobbyist for the country’s largest private prison company, GEO Group, as recently as 2019,” the center wrote.
“GEO Group has profited 83 cents on every tax dollar paid by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to care for detained immigrants. If confirmed as attorney general, Ms. Bondi would be in charge of U.S. immigration courts and have the authority to certify cases appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals. These certifications, in turn, would define the standards for relief and custody determinations, both of which can significantly impact the length of time individuals remain in immigration detention.”
The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law also condemned her nomination, claiming that she undermined the election process during her time as a Trump campaign official.
“There can be no justice without truth,” wrote Alex Ault, policy counsel for the organization. “Ms. Bondi has an egregious history of making misleading statements to support partisan attacks on our elections at the expense of Black voters. She personally parroted false election fraud claims in legal briefs and the media that were roundly rejected by both the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court.
“Her attempts to actively usurp democracy by overturning the 2020 election, and refusal to directly answer questions about her ability to impartially administer justice at her confirmation hearing make it crystal clear that she is unable to lead the Department of Justice equally and fairly.”
Bondi has yet to respond to criticism of her previous comments and associations or her track record regarding the death penalty in Florida, where she attempted to restore a state law that did not require a unanimous agreement from a jury to sentence a prisoner to death. Before it was overturned by both the U.S. Supreme Court and Florida Supreme Court, Florida was one of only three states to have this law.
Lauren Nutall is a reporter for HUNewsService.com, specializing in homeland security, public safety and social issues.
