Death row exonerees interviewed on the announced resumption of federal executions
After 16 years with no federal executions, the US Attorney General has issued five death warrants and set executions dates in December and January. Exonerated survivors of death row contend that the federal government should not proceed with any executions because the federal death penalty system is deeply flawed.
As with state level capital punishment, the federal death penalty is applied arbitrarily and with significant patterns of racial bias. The myths that it is reserved for the worst perpetrators or for uniquely federal crimes are untrue. Research has shown it is not a deterrent to crime. The lack of judicial process and investigative resources for many federal capital cases means we should all be very concerned that innocent people will be executed.
Witness to Innocence Executive Director and death row exoneree Kirk Bloodsworth told ITV News that "the federal government shouldn't be executing anyone."
Witness to Innocence co-founder and death row exoneree Ray Krone spoke to reporters about his concerns.
After two decades innocent on death row, Anthony Graves asked: "Does it really make you comfortable at night knowing 166 men that you supported being executed were found out to be innocent?"
Kirk Bloodsworth was quoted in an article about the federal death penalty and its connection to mass shootings, saying: "The death penalty doesn’t deter murders, period. It just makes it unsafe for innocent people."