William Barr Is Making America Cruel Again
The Trump administration will begin executing federal inmates — a draconian policy that could yield political gains
Fresh off a victory in the Mueller hearings, the Trump administration now has its sights set on enforcing draconian capital punishment policy.
Attorney General William Barr announced Thursday that the U.S. government would resume executing federal inmates for the first time in nearly two decades, starting in December and January with a quintet of federal inmates: Daniel Lewis Lee, a white supremacist who murdered a family of three; Lezmond Mitchell, who murdered a nine-year-old girl and her grandmother; Wesley Ira Purkey, who raped and murdered a 16-year-old girl; Alfred Bourgeois, who abused and murdered his two-and-a-half-year-old daughter; and Dustin Lee Honken, who shot and killed five people.
“Under administrations of both parties, the Department of Justice has sought the death penalty against the worst criminals, including these five murderers, each of whom was convicted by a jury of his peers after a full and fair proceeding,” Barr said in a statement. “The Justice Department upholds the rule of law — and we owe it to the victims and their families to carry forward the sentence imposed by our justice system.”
