Biden betrays his moral standing in Buffalo: Death penalty decision reveals his true colors

In a Friday afternoon announcement, the Biden Administration crossed the Rubicon when it said that it would seek the death penalty in the case of Payton Gendron. He killed 10 people in a racially motivated shooting at a Tops Supermarket in Buffalo, New York, in May 2022. Gendron, who was 19 at the time of the shooting, has already been convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole in a state criminal case.

His lawyer had told the feds that Gendron would plead guilty to the various federal charges brought by the Justice Department if the department would take the death penalty off the table. But none of that seems to have mattered to an administration that once touted its abolitionist credentials.

A lifetime of punishment was apparently not enough for the Biden Justice Department.

Horrible crimes, like Gendron’s, pose the sternest test for people opposed to the death penalty. The Biden administration just failed that test.

Recall that when Joe Biden ran for president he campaigned as a death penalty abolitionist. It was the first time any major presidential candidate had ever done so. Biden laid out a detailed plan for reform of the criminal justice system which included a promise to “work to pass legislation to eliminate the death penalty at the federal level, and incentivize states to follow the federal government’s example.”

More to the point, in light of the announcement at the start of the Martin Luther King holiday weekend, in 2020 Biden had said that people convicted of even the most egregious crimes should not get death sentences, but “should instead serve life sentences without probation or parole.”

His promise and his commitment to act decisively to change this nation’s approach to crime and punishment helped solidify support for Biden among crucial consistencies, including young people and many people in the Black........

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