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Pardons and pentobarbitol are defining the waning weeks of Donald Trump’s presidency. Speculation is rampant over whether Trump will grant himself a preemptive pardon, along with his three eldest children, Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric, his son-in-law Jared Kushner; and his lawyer Rudy Giuliani. If Trump does, he’ll be the first president in U.S. history to pardon himself.
Meanwhile, the 54 people on federal death row can expect no such mercy from Trump. He has already executed eight federal prisoners, ending a 30-year hiatus in federal executions, and intends to kill five more before he leaves office on January 20th. Four of those scheduled to die are African American men and the other is the only woman on federal death row. She would be the first woman executed by the federal government in nearly 70 years. These will be the first federal executions to occur during an outgoing president’s “lame duck” period in over 130 years, since President Grover Clevelend executed three men of color. Cleveland lost the election, but would be the only president to win again, four years later.
The federal government’s only death chamber, at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, is only equipped to kill by lethal injection. In order to expedite the killing spree, the Trump administration has issued...Read More →
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