After Biden commuted federal death row sentences, DAs are weighing state charges
Several district attorneys have considered charging former death row prisoners whose sentences were commuted by former President Joe Biden months after a White House executive order called on them to do so.
Several district attorneys have considered charging former death row prisoners whose sentences were commuted by former President Joe Biden months after a White House executive order called on them to do so.
So far, a Louisiana prosecutor successfully sought a first-degree murder charge against Thomas Steven Sanders in the death of a 12-year-old girl who was killed in Catahoula Parish in 2010. While Sanders’ federal death sentence was commuted to life without parole by Biden’s order just a few months ago, a Louisiana jury could reimpose a death sentence on him under state law if he’s found guilty.
Catahoula Parish prosecutor Brad Burget did not respond to requests for comment about the grand jury’s indictment two weeks ago, but told NBC affiliate KALB in Alexandria that he disagreed with Biden’s decision in December to grant clemency for those death row inmates.
“It just disrespects the victim,” he said.
Burget’s decision comes after President Donald Trump issued an executive order on the death penalty that both broadly declared that the U.S. should “ensure that the laws that authorize capital punishment are respected and faithfully implemented,” and also took specific aim at “each of the 37 murderers whose Federal death sentences were commuted by President Biden.”
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