Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) praised President Biden on Monday for commuting the sentences of 37 federal inmates on death row, asserting that the death penalty is inherently “racist.”
“There is no action more powerful or righteous than sparing someone’s life, and today President Biden is doing just that,” the liberal congresswoman from the far-left “Squad” said in a statement.
Pressley, 50, called the 82-year-old president’s decision to commute the sentences of convicted murderers and rapists “historic and groundbreaking,” emphasizing that it represents “an act of compassion that will save lives, address the deep racial disparities in our criminal legal system, and send a powerful message about redemption, decency, and humanity.”
“The death penalty is a racist, flawed, and fundamentally unjust punishment that has no place in any society,” the congresswoman contended. “For far too long, it has been disproportionately weaponized against Black and brown communities, exacerbated systemic inequities, and failed to make America any safer — which is why we’ve urged the president for years to work with us to abolish the federal death penalty.”
“By taking this historic action, President Biden is demonstrating the type of moral leadership this moment demands,” she concluded.
Among those whose sentences were commuted was 42-year-old Jorge Avila-Torrez, a federal inmate previously on death row, whose sentence was reduced to life without parole.
Avila-Torrez had been convicted of murdering 20-year-old Amanda Snell, strangling her in July 2009 at her Navy barrack in Arlington, Virginia.
In addition to the murder of Snell, Avila-Torrez had also sexually assaulted and killed two young girls, Laura Hobbs, 8, and Krystal Tobias, 9, in May 2005 while they were riding bicycles in their Chicago suburb.
The murderer also kidnapped and assaulted a graduate student from Virginia in February 2010, just months after killing Snell.
“What justification does [Biden] have for doing this? I want to have him explain to us, to our faces, why he chose to give them mercy when they didn’t give other people mercy,” said Alex Snell, Amanda Snell’s brother, in an interview with The Post.
“He should have gotten that penalty.”
At the same time, Pressley celebrated the commutations as a “victory” for the “impacted families” of those on death row, as well as advocates for abolishing the death penalty.
“It is their unwavering commitment to the dignity and humanity of every person that has made this moment possible,” the Massachusetts Democrat stated.
“I thank President Biden for heeding our calls and leading with compassion, and I encourage him to continue using his clemency authority in the final days of his presidency,” Pressley said in conclusion.
However, Pressley made no reference to the victims, including Amanda Snell and the Hobbs sisters, whose lives were taken by the very individuals who received clemency.
{Matzav.com}