THE DEATH MARCH
by Christy Hargesheimer
Amnesty International State Death Penalty Abolition Coordinator (SDPAC) for Nebraska
Nebraska has a long and rather tortured history with the death penalty, but these days it is not a statewide priority. We hope to bring abolition back to the discussion in the Legislature in the near future, although the present political climate doesn’t seem promising. Nonetheless, it is imperative that we educate ourselves on both state and federal issues regarding capital punishment, in preparation for future action. To that end, this will be the first of a series of articles in the Nebraska Report focusing on this important issue.
Each state determines the guidelines and methods of imposing the death penalty, or establishes either a moratorium or abolition. Nebraska is one of 27 states in which capital punishment is legal, but 19 of those states have moratoriums on executions. 23 states have abolished the death penalty. The federal government, the military, and American Samoa also have the death penalty.
In future articles, we will dive more in depth into the history and the workings of capital punishment, particularly as it is practiced in Nebraska, albeit rarely. But the first of this series of articles will focus on the federal death penalty, given the urgency for action following the recent presidential election.
The federal death penalty was reinstated in 1988 after being declared illegal by the Supreme Court in 1972. (States resumed the death penalty a decade earlier.) Until the final six months of Donald Trump’s first presidency, federal executions were rare. Since 1988, 16 federal prisoners have been executed: two in 2001, one in 2003, and 13 from July 14, 2020 to January 16, 2021. These last 13 executions all occurred during Trump’s final killing spree, in the short space of six months at the end of his presidency. President Biden subsequently paused federal executions.
What can we anticipate in the coming administration? There are 40 people remaining on federal death row and 4 on military death row, and Trump has vowed to execute all of them. He has also said he would like to expand the crimes eligible for the death penalty to include many crimes that do not result in a death. Treason and espionage are currently the only two crimes leading to federal capital punishment that are not the result of causing a death.
It is extremely unlikely that the current U.S. Supreme Court will call for a moratorium on the death penalty. Instead, SCOTUS will do what they can to facilitate President-elect Trump’s strong-man machismo policies. Indeed, we are likely to buck the international trend toward abolition. Amnesty International’s 2023 report on the death penalty worldwide (https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/act50/7952/2024/en/) shows that 144 countries are abolitionist in law or practice, and 55 are retentionist. We are among the top six countries in number of executions, joining ranks with China, Iran, Egypt, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia. Of the 35 nations in the Organization of American States, only one carried out executions in 2023. You guessed it… U.S.A.! (I guess that is what we can call American Exceptionalism!) In fact, if we were located on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, we would not be allowed to join the European Union, which requires member nations to be abolitionist.
So, what can we do?
We need to put pressure on President Biden to fulfill his campaign promise to shut down the federal and military death penalty, preventing Trump from carrying out a ruthless string of executions. Biden can’t eliminate the federal death penalty by presidential decree, but he can issue commutations to those currently on federal death row in Terre Haute, Indiana.
So here’s a call to action. Call or write to President Biden asking him to carry out his promise and commute all federal and military death row prisoners: 202-456-1111 or 202-456-1414; President Joe Biden, The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20500 (Incidentally, some of the federal death row inmates are from abolitionist states or territories, such as Puerto Rico.) You can write or call often!
Or you can sign your name on a petition, such as those sponsored by EJUSA or by Death Penalty Action. If you are a member of a faith group or other organization, have your leaders sign onto an organizational letter on the Death Penalty Action site. (At least two Nebraska organizations have already signed on.) Here are links to both groups. EJUSA: Tell President Biden: Commute The Row. Access Death Penalty Action’s featured actions at https://deathpenaltyaction.org. (The latter begins with two federal death penalty actions. Scroll down to read Rev Sharon Risher’s moving NYT opinion article about the impact on victims’ families.)
Amnesty International is focusing on the case of Billie Allen as an example of the egregious federal death penalty. Here’s the information and action on his case: https://www.amnestyusa.org/billie-allen/. This link will also take you to other actions such as writing to President Biden.
Thank you for taking prompt action. In future articles, some key actors in Nebraska’s abolition efforts will discuss our history and make suggestions for future actions. We will focus on issues such as innocence, racial disparities, exceptions for mental or cognitive disabilities, lack of deterrence, etc. Remember, “Silence = Death.” We’re all in this together!
Amnesty International State Death Penalty Abolition Coordinator (SDPAC) for Nebraska
Nebraska has a long and rather tortured history with the death penalty, but these days it is not a statewide priority. We hope to bring abolition back to the discussion in the Legislature in the near future, although the present political climate doesn’t seem promising. Nonetheless, it is imperative that we educate ourselves on both state and federal issues regarding capital punishment, in preparation for future action. To that end, this will be the first of a series of articles in the Nebraska Report focusing on this important issue.
Each state determines the guidelines and methods of imposing the death penalty, or establishes either a moratorium or abolition. Nebraska is one of 27 states in which capital punishment is legal, but 19 of those states have moratoriums on executions. 23 states have abolished the death penalty. The federal government, the military, and American Samoa also have the death penalty.
In future articles, we will dive more in depth into the history and the workings of capital punishment, particularly as it is practiced in Nebraska, albeit rarely. But the first of this series of articles will focus on the federal death penalty, given the urgency for action following the recent presidential election.
The federal death penalty was reinstated in 1988 after being declared illegal by the Supreme Court in 1972. (States resumed the death penalty a decade earlier.) Until the final six months of Donald Trump’s first presidency, federal executions were rare. Since 1988, 16 federal prisoners have been executed: two in 2001, one in 2003, and 13 from July 14, 2020 to January 16, 2021. These last 13 executions all occurred during Trump’s final killing spree, in the short space of six months at the end of his presidency. President Biden subsequently paused federal executions.
What can we anticipate in the coming administration? There are 40 people remaining on federal death row and 4 on military death row, and Trump has vowed to execute all of them. He has also said he would like to expand the crimes eligible for the death penalty to include many crimes that do not result in a death. Treason and espionage are currently the only two crimes leading to federal capital punishment that are not the result of causing a death.
It is extremely unlikely that the current U.S. Supreme Court will call for a moratorium on the death penalty. Instead, SCOTUS will do what they can to facilitate President-elect Trump’s strong-man machismo policies. Indeed, we are likely to buck the international trend toward abolition. Amnesty International’s 2023 report on the death penalty worldwide (https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/act50/7952/2024/en/) shows that 144 countries are abolitionist in law or practice, and 55 are retentionist. We are among the top six countries in number of executions, joining ranks with China, Iran, Egypt, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia. Of the 35 nations in the Organization of American States, only one carried out executions in 2023. You guessed it… U.S.A.! (I guess that is what we can call American Exceptionalism!) In fact, if we were located on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, we would not be allowed to join the European Union, which requires member nations to be abolitionist.
So, what can we do?
We need to put pressure on President Biden to fulfill his campaign promise to shut down the federal and military death penalty, preventing Trump from carrying out a ruthless string of executions. Biden can’t eliminate the federal death penalty by presidential decree, but he can issue commutations to those currently on federal death row in Terre Haute, Indiana.
So here’s a call to action. Call or write to President Biden asking him to carry out his promise and commute all federal and military death row prisoners: 202-456-1111 or 202-456-1414; President Joe Biden, The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20500 (Incidentally, some of the federal death row inmates are from abolitionist states or territories, such as Puerto Rico.) You can write or call often!
Or you can sign your name on a petition, such as those sponsored by EJUSA or by Death Penalty Action. If you are a member of a faith group or other organization, have your leaders sign onto an organizational letter on the Death Penalty Action site. (At least two Nebraska organizations have already signed on.) Here are links to both groups. EJUSA: Tell President Biden: Commute The Row. Access Death Penalty Action’s featured actions at https://deathpenaltyaction.org. (The latter begins with two federal death penalty actions. Scroll down to read Rev Sharon Risher’s moving NYT opinion article about the impact on victims’ families.)
Amnesty International is focusing on the case of Billie Allen as an example of the egregious federal death penalty. Here’s the information and action on his case: https://www.amnestyusa.org/billie-allen/. This link will also take you to other actions such as writing to President Biden.
Thank you for taking prompt action. In future articles, some key actors in Nebraska’s abolition efforts will discuss our history and make suggestions for future actions. We will focus on issues such as innocence, racial disparities, exceptions for mental or cognitive disabilities, lack of deterrence, etc. Remember, “Silence = Death.” We’re all in this together!
