‘A JUST CONCLUSION’

DOJ Says Boston Marathon Bomber’s Death Sentence Should Be Reinstated

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is serving life after an appeals court overturned a death sentence, but the DOJ is challenging that.

The Department of Justice has asked the Supreme Court to reinstate the death penalty for the Boston Marathon bomber—even though President Biden is opposed to capital punishment. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, a 27-year-old of Chechen descent who killed three people at the 2013 Boston Marathon using homemade pipe bombs, was initially sentenced to death. An appeals court overturned the death sentence last year because of potential jury bias, a decision that was challenged by the Trump-era DOJ. In a 48-page brief to the court, the DOJ argued that the appeals court had “improperly vacated the capital sentences recommended by the jury” and asked the Supreme Court to “put this case back on track toward a just conclusion.” Reporting on the case, Axios pointed out that Biden is the “first sitting president to oppose the death penalty and has said he wants to end its use.”