The Biden administration—via the Department of Justice—asked the Supreme Court on Tuesday to reinstate the death penalty for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, despite President Biden's stated opposition to capital punishment.
"The court of appeals improperly vacated the capital sentences recommended by the jury in one of the most important terrorism prosecutions in our Nation’s history," argues the brief from DOJ.
Tsarnaev, described as a "radical jihadist bent on killing Americans," was convicted on 30 offenses for his role in the 2013 bombing of the Boston Marathon for which he received capital sentences for six counts and life sentences for others. A court of appeals later affirmed 27 of Tsarnaev's convictions but reversed three and vacated his capital sentences over claims of juror bias.
"The jury carefully considered each of respondent’s crimes and determined that capital punishment was warranted for the horrors that he personally inflicted—setting down a shrapnel bomb in a crowd and detonating it, killing a child and a promising young student, and consigning several others 'to a lifetime of unimaginable suffering,'" explains the DOJ's 56-page filing. "That determination by 12 conscientious jurors deserves respect and reinstatement by this Court."
The brief from DOJ outlines the carnage wrought by Tsarnaev's bomb that led jurors in the original case to recommend capital punishment on six counts:
On April 15, 2013, respondent and his brother Tamerlan—a fellow jihadist—walked to the crowded finish-line area of the Boston Marathon with backpacks containing homemade pressure-cooker shrapnel bombs filled with BBs and nails. They separated, and each of them found a spot packed with spectators to place his bomb. Respondent selected the sidewalk near the crowded outdoor patio at the Forum restaurant, just behind several children watching the race. The brothers spoke on the phone, and about 20 seconds later, Tamerlan’s bomb exploded. Respondent then moved away from his own bomb, which exploded a few seconds later.
The first bomb “completely mutilated” the legs of race spectator Krystle Campbell, causing her to bleed to death on the sidewalk while her friend attempted to comfort her.
Respondent’s bomb “filleted” the leg of Boston University student Lingzi Lu “open down to the bone.” People nearby worked frantically to save Lu’s life and pleaded with her to “[s]tay strong,” but she died within minutes. Respondent’s bomb “also sent BBs and nails tearing through” the body of eight-year-old Martin Richard, “cutting his spinal cord, pancreas, liver, kidney, spleen, large intestine, and abdominal aorta, and nearly severing his left arm.” The boy “bled to death on the sidewalk—with his mother leaning over him, trying to will him to live.”
The Supreme Court agreed to take up the case after the Trump administration challenged the appeals court's decision to vacate Tsarnaev's capital sentences last summer.
The Biden administration's decision to maintain the position of the previous administration is contradicted by a Biden spokesperson who said in November 2020 that "the President-Elect opposes the death penalty, now and in the future, and as president will work to end its use."