Justin Bullock, FISM News
The US Department of Justice (DoJ) is backing an appeal to the US Supreme Court to reinstate the death penalty for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. The death penalty for Tsarnaev was previously overturned on appeal after a federal appeals court found that the trial judge assigned to the case did not properly discern among potential jurors with respect to bias. Tsarnaev is responsible for one of the worst terror attacks in the US since 9/11, so public sentiment is largely in favor of reinstating the death penalty for Tsarnaev.
The Supreme Court indicated that they will hear oral argument about the case during their next term. In the meantime, Tsarnaev will remain in prison for the rest of his life regardless of whether or not the Supreme Court restores the death penalty, as he was originally given 20 life sentences in addition to the death penalty. This news is also a little surprising as President Biden has indicated that he opposes the death penalty and is seeking to by and large eliminate its use by the federal government. In this case however, President Biden, through the DoJ, is taking up the reigns of a case that was initially begun by former President Donald Trump and his Department of Justice.