17 Democratic senators urge Attorney General Merrick Garland to stop seeking the federal death penalty - Business Insider

  • 17 Senate Democrats called on AG Merrick Garland to take further steps toward eliminating the federal death penalty.
  • "There are serious concerns about arbitrariness in the application of the death penalty," they wrote in a letter.
  • Garland paused federal executions last month, a reversal from the Trump administration.

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A group of Senate Democrats on Monday urged Attorney General Merrick Garland to stop seeking federal executions, writing in a letter that "it's time to end the federal death penalty."

The 17 lawmakers, led by Sens. Dick Durbin of Illinois, Patrick Leahy of Vermont, and Cory Booker of New Jersey, asked Garland to withdraw all pending death notices and forbid issuing new death notices while the Department of Justice reviews its policies on capital punishment.

"There are serious concerns about arbitrariness in the application of the death penalty, its disparate impact on people of color, and the alarming number of exonerations in capital cases," the senators wrote. "These concerns justify not only a review of the procedures for carrying out the death penalty, but also support halting its use — including prohibiting federal prosecutors from seeking the death penalty — during the review process."

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