I have talked a lot about the collapse of the criminal justice system. The very concept of criminal justice — of enacting justice, and punishing crime — has been destroyed. But very few people ever take the time to trace the roots of our current state of lawless anarchy back to its origins. And the thing is, you don’t need to trace the roots very far.
There is a reason why we now live in a country governed by people who don’t believe in simply enforcing the law and punishing lawbreakers. These are people who are operating according to certain particularly crazy set of beliefs. And one of those beliefs is that deterrence doesn’t exist. Effectively, you cannot deter crime by punishing it. That’s the insane idea that began in our institutions of higher learning — the sort of insane idea that can only begin in our institutions of higher learning — and filtered its way down from there. As these ideas always do.
It began with the claim, first made years ago, that the death penalty doesn’t deter crime. This was always false, for reasons we’ll touch on later. But whatever you think of the death penalty, the implication underlying this &#8220;deterrence&#8221; argument was never going to stop with the death penalty. It was always going to progress far beyond that. And indeed, we&#8217;ve seen that progression in recent years. It&#8217;s no longer, &#8220;The death penalty is pointless because people don&#8217;t consider those consequences when they commit crime.&#8221; Instead, the argument we&#8217;re hearing today is, &#8220;All harsh punishment is pointless because people don&#8217;t consider any consequences when they commit crime.&#8221;
This is the intellectual origin of the &#8220;soft-on-crime&#8221; approach to law enforcement that we&#8217;re seeing in every major city in the country right now. And several years ago, this approach was adopted by the Obama DOJ without any fanfare whatsoever. In May of 2016, the National Institute of Justice, which is the research arm of the DOJ, published a <a href="https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/nij/247350.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">document</a> entitled, &#8220;Five Things About Deterrence.&#8221; You’ve probably never heard of this document but it is essentially the modern manifesto of the anti-incarceration movement in the United States. It applies the reasoning of anti-death penalty advocates to all forms of crime. It’s truly a remarkable document.
So here are the &#8220;five things about deterrence&#8221; that the memo highlights and then expands upon.
Number one: &#8220;The certainty of being caught is a vastly more powerful deterrent than the punishment.&#8221; In other words, according to the DOJ, criminals are primarily worried about whether the cops are going to arrest them — not about how long they&#8217;re going to have to stay in prison. The question that apparently never occurred to this DOJ is: If the punishments aren’t severe, then why would the certainty of being caught deter anyone? Why would criminals care if they’re caught, if they know ahead of time that they won’t be punished? The whole reason that being caught is scary is that you will be punished. But if you aren’t punished, then being caught isn’t scary anymore. 
We are seeing this play out in cities across the country. Sure, the criminals are caught (sometimes), but it doesn’t matter because they aren’t punished and they’re back on the street a day later, committing more crimes. The argument from the DOJ is like saying that home invaders are deterred by guns, but it doesn’t matter if it’s a Glock or a super soaker. It makes no sense.
<h4><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1309-why-the-criminal-justice-system-gave-up-on-punishing-criminals" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Matt Walsh Show</a></h4>
The DOJ&#8217;s manifesto doesn&#8217;t bother to expound on this point in any way. It just says, &#8220;Research shows clearly that the chance of being caught is a vastly more effective deterrent than even draconian punishment.&#8221; So there you have it. &#8220;Research&#8221; shows that punishment doesn&#8217;t work. What kind of research? They don&#8217;t say, at least not in that paragraph. Buried in the fine print on the page, however, is a citation to an <a href="https://prohic.nl/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/2020-06-02-DeterrenceMetaNagin.2013.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">article</a> by a public policy professor named Daniel Nagin at Carnegie Mellon University. This is the primary paper the DOJ relies on, along with a couple of others. Apparently, Nagin has done the research, and he&#8217;s realized that criminals don&#8217;t really care that much about punishment. They only care about the prospect of being caught.
I looked around to see if Nagin actually thinks this, and if so, what his logic is. I came across this clip from many years ago, which I&#8217;m going to play primarily because it&#8217;s kind of hilarious. Watch as a local news team breaks the news that, according to Daniel Nagin&#8217;s first groundbreaking finding, when you have more police officers, criminals tend to commit less crime. And then the news station interviews a couple of random people who think that checks out. This is one of the best examples of &#8220;research&#8221; telling us something that&#8217;s incredibly obvious, to a comical degree. But buried in this report, if you listen really carefully, is Nagin&#8217;s second theory, which the DOJ finds so compelling. Watch:
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So the reporter holds up the stack of papers. &#8220;Here&#8217;s the research,&#8221; he says. &#8220;It shows that more police means less crime!&#8221; Cut to the two local residents and the sheriff who say, &#8220;uh, yeah. You think?&#8221; Apparently, being a professor at Carnegie Mellon isn&#8217;t what it used to be. Random people off the street think your research is incredibly obvious, because it is.
But the key part of that segment for our purposes is what Daniel Nagin says in that clip. He reports that, &#8220;There&#8217;s little evidence that making punishments even more severe than they already are has an incremental effect.&#8221; Right away, that&#8217;s a different argument from the one the DOJ is making. The DOJ said flat-out that, &#8220;draconian punishments&#8221; don&#8217;t deter crime. But the argument this Carnegie Mellon professor is advancing in that clip is that, if you make our existing punishments more severe, then they won&#8217;t deter crime that much. Those are two completely different arguments.
This little inconsistency confused me enough to look up Nagin&#8217;s actual paper — the one the DOJ cites in its manifesto on deterrence. And in that article, you&#8217;ll find two main claims.
The first one is the idea he outlines in that video clip, &#8220;There is little evidence that increases in the length of already long prison sentences yield general deterrence effects that are sufficiently large to justify their social and economic costs.&#8221; In other words, he&#8217;s saying that existing prison sentences are a sufficient deterrent, and we don&#8217;t need to make them longer.
But afterwards in the paper, Nagin goes on to say pretty much what the DOJ claims. He says, &#8220;I have concluded that there is little evidence of a specific deterrent effect arising from the experience of imprisonment compared with the experience of noncustodial sanctions such as probation. .. It is clear that lengthy prison sentences cannot be justified on a deterrence-based, crime prevention basis.&#8221;
Those claims don&#8217;t follow at all. His starting point is that we don&#8217;t need to make prison sentences longer. And somehow, without showing his work, he ends up with a declaration that criminals don&#8217;t really care about their punishments, only whether they&#8217;re apprehended — as though apprehension without punishment matters to anyone. We might as well just sentence everyone to probation, is what he&#8217;s saying.
The technical term for this kind of argument is that it&#8217;s garbage. It&#8217;s a clearly absurd result, but it&#8217;s the basis for the DOJ&#8217;s entire argument against deterrence. This is the document that the DOJ cites to justify its policy of releasing as many criminals as possible — or at least, criminals who share the DOJ&#8217;s politics. It&#8217;s hard to overemphasize how truly bizarre and incredible this is.
But it gets weirder. Citing Nagin&#8217;s research, the DOJ goes on to claim that, &#8220;Sending an individual convicted of a crime to prison isn’t a very effective way to deter crime.&#8221;
Again, that&#8217;s a direct quote from a document produced by the DOJ in 2016. &#8220;Sending an individual convicted of a crime to prison isn&#8217;t a very effective way to deter crime.&#8221; They&#8217;re saying that because some random Carnegie Mellon professor just wrote it down a few years earlier. Again, they don&#8217;t really clarify this point. Here&#8217;s the extent of the DOJ&#8217;s explanation: “Prisons are good for punishing criminals and keeping them off the street, but prison sentences (particularly long sentences) are unlikely to deter future crime. Prisons actually may have the opposite effect: Inmates learn more effective crime strategies from each other, and time spent in prison may desensitize many to the threat of future imprisonment.&#8221;
If this is true, it’s an argument for giving out even longer punishments, not shorter ones. In fact, this is a solid reason to be much more generous in handing out life sentences. If you give a life sentence — and actually make it a life sentence, meaning that the person isn&#8217;t released after 25 years or whatever — then the deterrence issue, at least for that individual, is a moot point. He’s gone. He’s off the street for good. But the DOJ doesn&#8217;t mention this possibility in the memo. Instead they conclude that we should let people out of jail sooner, after just telling us that jail only makes criminals more dangerous.
The rest of the DOJ document continues along these lines.
The third bullet point in the DOJ&#8217;s document says, &#8220;Police deter crime by increasing the perception that criminals will be caught and punished.&#8221; (This was the earth-shattering revelation that shocked those news reporters). 
Number four: &#8220;Increasing the severity of punishment does little to deter crime.&#8221;
And number five: &#8220;There is no proof that the death penalty deters criminals.&#8221;
Those latter two bullet points contradict everything we know about the human condition. Obviously longer, harsh prison sentences deter crime. This is a basic fact of human psychology. People are less likely to do something if the consequences are very bad. That doesn’t mean nobody will do it. It doesn&#8217;t mean that everyone will respond to incentives like a rational person. It just means fewer people will do it. It&#8217;s impossible for a reasonable person to deny this point because it is again a basic fact of human behavior, well established over the course of thousands of years of human civilization.
That’s why they have no way of disproving it. All they have are random studies done by quack sociologists which are supposed to outweigh the collective experience of all mankind for the past 10 thousand years. And by the way, these random studies contradict the random studies I cited earlier — the ones CBS News reported on back in 2007.
That&#8217;s a cue that it&#8217;s a good idea to ignore all of these studies, and use common sense. The DOJ is stacking a handful of research papers against the totality of human experience, and expect us to believe the research papers. Which is also how they come up with the ridiculous proposition that the death penalty doesn’t deter crime. Obviously people are less likely to do something if you kill them for doing it. If the death penalty in its current form is less effective as a deterrence than it has been in the past, that&#8217;s only because we put so much time in between conviction and punishment that the punishment loses much of its societal impact.
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And again, the DOJ&#8217;s arguments are all assuming that &#8220;deterrence&#8221; is somehow the only relevant goal. But long prison sentences have another important goal, known as &#8220;incapacitation.&#8221; They remove violent criminals from the public, so they can&#8217;t hurt anyone again. 
Later on in the document, the DOJ does briefly touch on the goal of incapacitation. Here&#8217;s what they say: &#8220;Individuals grow out of criminal activity as they age. &#8230; A more severe (i.e., lengthy) prison sentence for convicted individuals who are naturally aging out of crime does achieve the goal of punishment and incapacitation. But that incapacitation is a costly way to deter future crimes by aging individuals who already are less likely to commit those crimes by virtue of age.&#8221;
This is how the DOJ views criminal justice. They actually say that sending criminals to prison for a long time might be pointless because they&#8217;ll grow out of being criminals anyway. This is the type of thinking that is directing the justice system from the very top, and the mental rot goes all the way down from there.
But the DOJ does make one point that makes sense, which is that it&#8217;s impossible to say which criminals are likely to reoffend, and which criminals are likely to &#8220;age out&#8221; of a life of crime. That&#8217;s true. Really, it&#8217;s impossible to conduct a fully accurate study of deterrence. There&#8217;s no way to quantify the number of people who would have committed a crime had the punishments been softer, or the number who did commit one because the punishments were too soft. This would require not only self-reported data (which is notoriously unreliable) but also a person&#8217;s speculations about their theoretical mental states in some other possible universe. There&#8217;s just no way to compile that into a statistic and call it science.
We ultimately have to fall back on the history of human societies and our own basic common sense intuitions about how human beings operate and what sorts of things incentivize and disincentivize them.
And all of that points back to a simple and straightforward conclusion: if you want less crime, you have one choice. It&#8217;s the choice that academics and public health experts and politicians have avoided making for decades now. You have to punish criminals, and you have to punish them severely.

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Why The Criminal Justice System Gave Up On Punishing Criminals

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Sentencing Phase Of Scott Peterson Trial Continues

Scott Peterson: Guilty, Or The Unluckiest Cheater In History?

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True Crime

An Alabama man convicted of first-degree murder became the first death row inmate to be executed via nitrogen gas on Thursday.
Kenneth Eugene Smith, who killed Elizabeth Sennett in 1988 in a murder-for-hire plot, was declared dead at 8:25 p.m. Thursday after a mask was put over his face which pumped nitrogen gas into his body, the Montgomery Advertiser <a href="https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/local/alabama/2024/01/25/four-minutes-of-convulsions-kenneth-smith-executed-with-nitrogen-gas/72358038007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Alabama Republican Governor Kay Ivey confirmed the execution shortly after Smith, 58, was declared dead.
&#8220;After more than 30 years and attempt after attempt to game the system, Mr. Smith has answered for his horrendous crimes,&#8221; Ivey said. “The execution was lawfully carried out by nitrogen hypoxia, the method previously requested by Mr. Smith as an alternative to lethal injection.&#8221;
“I pray that Elizabeth Sennett’s family can receive closure after all these years dealing with that great loss,” Ivey added, <a href="https://www.al.com/news/birmingham/2024/01/alabama-to-execute-kenneth-smith-with-untested-nitrogen-gas-tonight.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to AL.com.
Smith was convicted of first-degree murder in 1996 and sentenced to death for his role in the murder-for-hire plot that targeted Sennett, the wife of a Church of Christ minister. According to evidence established at trial, Charles Sennett hired Billy Gray Williams to kill his wife, and Williams paid Smith, along with a man named John Forrest Parker, $1,000 to carry out the murder.
Smith and Williams drove to the Sennetts’ home when Elizabeth was there alone and attacked her with &#8220;their fists and other objects such as a poker, walking cane, fireplace tongs,&#8221; and a knife, according to documents from the trial, WVMT 13 <a href="https://www.wvtm13.com/article/gas-alabama-execution-nitrogen-kenneth-smith-murder/46448728#" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. The murder investigation immediately focused on Charles Sennett as a suspect, and he killed himself just a week after his wife’s slaying.
Parker, Smith’s accomplice in the murder-for-hire, was executed by lethal injection in 2010, and Williams, who was sentenced to life without parole, died in prison in 2020. Smith <a href="https://www.al.com/news/2022/11/alabama-prepares-to-execute-man-for-1988-murder-for-hire-of-pastors-wife.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">survived</a> the first attempt to execute him in November of 2022 after prison officials failed to access his veins to start an intravenous line for the lethal injection. After the botched execution attempt, the U.S. Supreme Court sided with Smith’s lawyers who requested that he should be allowed to die by nitrogen hypoxia, according to AL.com.
Smith <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/25/us/kenneth-smith-nitrogen-gas-execution-alabama/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">appealed</a> to the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday and Thursday, requesting a halt to his execution, but the high court denied both attempts. The convicted murderer’s last meal was steak, hashbrowns, and eggs.
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Following Smith’s execution, his spiritual advisor, Rev. Jeff Hood, said he was disturbed by Smith’s death via nitrogen gas after witnessing other executions that used lethal injections.
“Lethal injection is preferable every single day,” Hood said, adding, “What we saw was minutes of someone struggling for his life.”
“Kenny Smith was by no means a perfect person,” said Hood. “We have got to make sure that this never, ever, happens again.”
Sennett’s son Mike said that while Smith’s execution won’t bring his mother back, his “evil deeds” had been paid for.
“Elizabeth Dorlene Sennett got her justice tonight,” he said.

Lethal Injection Room at Huntsville

Alabama Murderer Becomes First To Be Executed With Nitrogen Gas

Alabama

Death Row

The state of Florida is seeking for the first time to use the death penalty against a man accused of sexually abusing a child.
A grand jury indicted of Joseph Andrew Giampa on six counts of Sexual Battery Upon a Person Under Twelve Years of Age and three counts of Promoting a Sexual Performance by a Child.
State Attorney William Gladson of the Fifth Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office said that due to the severity of the alleged crimes, his office intends to seek the death penalty pursuant to Florida Statutes 794.011(2)(a) and 921.1425.
Giampa was arrested by Lake County sheriff’s deputies on November 2 after they arrived at his home to question him.
Giampa showed deputies a video that was on a laptop in his camper that allegedly depicted him &#8220;sexually abusing a child while recording the act,&#8221; The Tampa Bay Times <a href="https://www.tampabay.com/news/crime/2023/12/14/florida-death-penalty-child-rape-law-desantis-lake-county/">reported</a>.
During the video, the man who was recording it put down the recording device and stepped in front of it, at which point deputies identified the man as Giampa.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis threw his support behind seeking the death penalty for Giampa.
&#8220;Today, @flsao5 announced that they will seek the death penalty in a case of sexual battery against a child under age 12,&#8221; DeSantis said. &#8220;It will be the first case to challenge SCOTUS since I signed legislation to make pedophiles eligible for the death penalty. @flsao5 has my full support.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Today, <a href="https://twitter.com/flsao5?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@flsao5</a> announced that they will seek the death penalty in a case of sexual battery against a child under age 12.   It will be the first case to challenge SCOTUS since I signed legislation to make pedophiles eligible for the death penalty.  <a href="https://twitter.com/flsao5?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@flsao5</a> has my full support.
&mdash; Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) <a href="https://twitter.com/GovRonDeSantis/status/1735436636773630459?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 14, 2023</a></blockquote>
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DeSantis <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/desantis-signs-new-law-and-order-bills-that-allows-the-death-penalty-for-pedophiles">signed</a> House Bill 1297 into law back in the Spring which imposes the death penalty on pedophiles who “commit sexual battery against children under the age of 12,” the governor’s office said.
The governor said that he was prepared to take the fight all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court “to overrule judicial precedents which have unjustly shielded child rapists from the death penalty and denied victims and their loved ones the opportunity to pursue ultimate justice against these most heinous criminals.”
DeSantis also <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/20/politics/death-penalty-ron-desantis-florida-parkland-shooting/index.html">signed</a> a bill into law that drops the requirement for a death sentence to be handed out to a convicted criminal from a unanimous vote for jurors to only 8 out of 12 jurors.

GOP Presidential Candidate Ron DeSantis Campaigns In California

Florida Seeks Death Penalty For Accused Child Rapist

Florida

Ron DeSantis

The Democrat governor of Louisiana has ordered a clemency review of 56 of the 57 inmates on death row — <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12391661/Louisiana-Governor-orders-clemency-review-56-57-inmates-death-row-filed-applications-time.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">including</a> a man convicted of raping and stabbing a 4-year-old girl — after the 56 inmates filed applications.
Governor John Bel Edwards decided to order the review after the leading GOP challenger to replace him in November, State Attorney General Jeff Landry, issued an advisory opinion urging the state&#8217;s parole board — all of whom were appointed by Edwards — to consider all applications as non-viable. Landry said the board should not ignore its policy — which requires clemency requests to be made within one year of judges issuing appeal rulings — unless extenuating circumstances applied, such as an imminent execution date. Landry pointed out that the execution dates for the prisoners were not imminent.
“The broad and ill-defined waiver in (the rules) ostensibly empowers the board to repeal portions of its own rules and enact new ones at will, on an ad-hoc basis, and without any notice to the public,&#8221; Landry wrote, The Advocate <a href="https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/courts/jeff-landry-deals-blow-to-louisiana-death-row-clemency-pleas/article_1e9d15ae-883d-51ac-92eb-4b3e5763e2e7.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. &#8220;Such a result is impermissible under Louisiana law.”
In late July, Louisiana&#8217;s Board of Pardons and Committee postponed hearing clemency applications death row prisoners had submitted in June in which they asked for life sentences instead of execution.
“Beyond moral justifications, there are a number of reasons, whether based in law or science, that support the need for mercy while considering these applications,” Edwards wrote to the parole board. “Over the last 20 years in Louisiana, there have been six exonerations and more than 50 reversals of sentences in capital cases.”
“The governor is out there right now trying to circumvent a constitutional pardon and parole system,” Landry said in an interview with <a href="https://www.nola.com/news/politics/gov-john-bel-edwards-continues-push-to-empty-death-row/article_5e19bb3e-36cc-11ee-a7eb-e3b0c23f269e.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NOLA</a>. “Every one of those people on death row has had a jury of their peers convict them not once but twice.”
Loren Lampert, the executive director of the Louisiana District Attorneys Association, <a href="https://www.nola.com/news/politics/gov-john-bel-edwards-continues-push-to-empty-death-row/article_5e19bb3e-36cc-11ee-a7eb-e3b0c23f269e.html">called</a> Edwards’ action “inappropriate and a direct affront to the victims and their families.”
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Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore III, a Democrat, agreed with Landry, <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12391661/Louisiana-Governor-orders-clemency-review-56-57-inmates-death-row-filed-applications-time.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">saying</a>, “Because of the governor&#8217;s request today, deep wounds have been re-opened yet again for victims who thought this issue was decided. When will this emotional roller coaster for these victims end?”

Senate Budget Committee Holds Hearing On The Fiscal Consequences Of Climate Change On Infrastructure

‘Deep Wounds Have Been Reopened’: Dem Louisiana Gov Orders Clemency Review For 56 Death Row Inmates

Dem Louisiana Gov Orders Clemency Review For 56 Death Row Inmates

John Bel Edwards

Louisiana

Politics

A jury on Wednesday sentenced the man who gunned down 11 people at the Tree of Life Synagogue in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/pittsburgh" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pittsburgh</a> to death, nearly five years after the attack. 
The shooter, whom The Daily Wire will not name in accordance with company policy, was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tree-of-life-synagogue-shooter-convicted-on-all-charges-could-face-death-penalty" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found guilty</a> in June of all 63 counts he was facing, including 11 counts of obstructing the free exercise of religious beliefs resulting in death and 11 counts of hate crimes resulting in death. 
The jury’s unanimous decision was announced by U.S. District Judge Robert J. Colville, who presided over the trial, which took place in downtown Pittsburgh. The judge will <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/08/02/us/pittsburgh-synagogue-trial" target="_blank" rel="noopener">officially</a> sentence the shooter to death later this week. 
The victims were from three Jewish congregations who <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pittsburgh-synagogue-shooter-eligible-for-death-penalty-jury-decides" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gathered</a> at the Tree of Life synagogue on October 27, 2018. Two other worshipers and five police officers were also wounded by the gunman, who unloaded a Colt AR-15 semi-automatic rifle and three Glock .357 handguns during his attack. 
Victims of the shooting <a href="https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2023/08/02/pittsburgh-synagogue-tree-of-life-trial-updates-robert-bowers-verdict/stories/202308020089" target="_blank" rel="noopener">were</a>: Joyce Fienberg, Richard Gottfried, Rose Mallinger, Jerry Rabinowitz, Cecil and David Rosenthal, Bernice and Sylvan Simon, Daniel Stein, Melvin Wax, and Irving Younger.
The shooting is considered by authorities to be the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in U.S. history.
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“I hope that today’s sentencing decision in the synagogue shooting case marks a step forward toward healing for our community,” Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey said after the verdict was announced. “I hope that we can use this decision to start a new chapter that uplifts and protects our city’s Jewish community.”
Attorneys representing the shooter asked for a life sentence if he pleaded guilty, but prosecutors, with the support of most of the victims’ families, refused and took the case to trial to pursue the death penalty. The shooter’s lawyers also argued that he was impaired by mental illness and a delusional belief system took over his thinking, dictating that he had to kill Jews to stop a genocide of white people, the Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/article/pittsburgh-synagogue-shooting-death-penalty-27e3b1a505cacdd674ee9b8a179aa1a8">reported</a>. 
“He turned this place of worship into an exhibit in his criminal trial,” U.S. Attorney Eric Olshan said while arguing for jurors to recommend the death penalty, according to the Pittsburgh Gazette.
A criminal complaint <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/pittsburgh-synagogue-mass-shooting-verdict-reached-federal-death/story?id=100104078">showed</a> that the man told authorities he intentionally targeted the synagogue because he hoped to kill Jewish people. The shooter’s defense attorneys acknowledged that he had done the shooting but asked jurors to “scrutinize his intent.” 
Zach Jewell contributed to this report.

Pittsburgh Commemorates One-Year Anniversary Of Synagogue Shootings

Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooter Sentenced To Death By Jury

Courts

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Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh

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U.S.

The man who gunned down 11 people at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, nearly five years ago is eligible for the death penalty, a federal jury announced Thursday. 
The jury agreed with prosecutors who are seeking capital punishment for the shooter who targeted Jews after six months of planning and said he regretted not killing more people, the Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/article/robert-bowers-synagogue-trial-death-penalty-74bcc4f2b79a91a5bf7c6718c9016e84" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. The shooting is considered by authorities to be the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in U.S. history. 
The shooter, whom The Daily Wire will not name in accordance with company policy, was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tree-of-life-synagogue-shooter-convicted-on-all-charges-could-face-death-penalty" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found guilty</a> last month of all 63 counts he was facing, including 11 counts of obstructing the free exercise of religious beliefs resulting in death and 11 counts of hate crimes resulting in death. 
After two hours of deliberations, the jurors’ verdict was read in front of survivors and the victims&#8217; family members.
“It has been nearly five years since 11 people were taken from us. They were beloved and valued family members, friends and neighbors. They cannot speak for themselves, and so their family members will speak for them,” said Maggie Feinstein, the director of 10.27 Healing Partnership, a program dedicated to helping survivors of the shooting and those affected by the tragedy. 
Attorneys representing the shooter asked for a life sentence if he pleaded guilty, but prosecutors, with the support of most of the victims’ families, refused and took the case to trial to pursue the death penalty. The shooter’s lawyers also argued that he was impaired by mental illness and a “delusional belief system took over his thinking,” dictating that he had to kill Jews to stop a genocide of white people, the AP reported. 
The mass murderer killed 11 people from three Jewish congregations who gathered at the Tree of Life synagogue on October 27, 2018. Two other worshipers and five police officers were also wounded by the gunman who unloaded a Colt AR-15 semi-automatic rifle and three Glock .357 handguns during his attack. 
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Jurors are now expected to hear the gruesome details of how the shooter inflicted pain and trauma on his Jewish victims before they decide if his crime will ultimately result in capital punishment. After hearing arguments from the prosecution and the defense, including possible pleas from the shooter’s family members, the jury must be in unanimous agreement for the death penalty to be carried out.
Leif Le Mahieu contributed to this report.

Tree of Life Synagogue

Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooter Eligible For Death Penalty, Jury Decides

Jews

Prosecutors on Monday indicated their intention to seek the death penalty for the 28-year-old man accused of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/homicide" target="_blank" rel="noopener">killing</a> four University of Idaho <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/students" target="_blank" rel="noopener">students</a> last November.
In <a href="https://coi.isc.idaho.gov/docs/case/CR29-22-2805/062623%20Notice%20Pursuant%20to%20Idaho%20Code%2018-4004A.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a motion</a> filed with the district court of Latah County, Idaho, prosecutors wrote that they had “not identified or been provided with any mitigating circumstances sufficient to prohibit the triers of fact from considering all penalties authorized by the Idaho legislature including the possibility of a capital sentence.”
Prosecutors continued, writing “considering all evidence currently known to the State, the State is compelled to file this notice of intent to seek the death penalty.”
The motion ended by saying prosecutors reserve the right to withdraw its intent should mitigating evidence prevent itself.
Earlier this month, the suspect, who is not being named per Daily Wire policy, filed a court motion stating that due to the “voluminous” and “still ongoing” discovery process, as well as the defense’s continued investigation of the charges against the suspect, deciding to offer an alibi for the crime would be “at a minimum, premature as wading through the extensive information that makes up the case is incomplete,” the court documents said, <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/idaho-college-murder-suspect-bryan-kohberger-requests-time/story?id=99989758" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to ABC News</a>.
Further, deciding now “may tread into disclosures of protected information,” the motion added. Thus, the defense said it “needs time to make this determination and consider evidentiary rules.”
The Latah County Prosecutor’s Office previously filed a motion for the suspect’s notice of alibi on May 23. Idaho law gives defendants ten days to respond to such a motion, “or at such different time as the court may direct,” in writing. They must also provide a list of witnesses they would call on to confirm that alibi.
The suspect’s attorneys requested additional time to decide or an exception to the rule. Should the court not grant their request, defense attorneys wrote, then they asked for a hearing “to present oral argument, evidence and/or testimony.”
The suspect was formally indicted in May on charges including first-degree murder. During his arraignment, he wore a bullet-proof vest under his orange jumpsuit, the Daily Mail <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12111149/Bryan-Kohberger-court-appearance-LIVE-Idaho-murder-suspect-enter-plea-four-counts-murder.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
He reportedly stood silently when the judge asked him to enter his plea, so the judge entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf. Families of the victims reportedly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/attorney-says-university-of-idaho-victims-families-want-death-penalty-for-accused-killer-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">asked</a> for the death penalty.
The suspect was arrested six weeks after four friends, Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Ethan Chapin, 20; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Madison Mogen, 21, were stabbed to death on November 13, 2022.

University of Idaho

Prosecution Seeks Death Penalty For Accused Killer Of Four University Of Idaho Students

College

Idaho

Students

The Taliban in Afghanistan have carried out the second known public execution since the terror group took control of the country two years ago, according to a <a href="https://apnews.com/article/afghanistan-taliban-public-execution-f224fd940a8ce347bc89eb08f7d77325" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from the Associated Press.
The man, known only as &#8220;Ajmal&#8221; from Kabul, was convicted by the Supreme Court of murdering five people last year in two separate cases. He was executed Tuesday by the son of one of the five men he was convicted of killing. It took place outside of a mosque in the Laghman province using a rifle, the outlet notes.
&#8220;Due to the seriousness of the case, the supreme leader also undertook a final investigation and after discussion with scholars confirmed the execution,&#8221; a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/afghanistans-taliban-administration-executes-man-murder-five-2023-06-20/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> from the Supreme Court said.
Family members of the four other victims were reportedly in attendance. According to the AP, Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada ordered the execution after the case was brought to the country’s Supreme Court, and three different courts reportedly upheld the death sentence.
Last year, Akhundzada told judges in the country to carry out punishments in accordance with sharia law, Reuters reported. The high court also announced last year a return to some of the practices of the Taliban of the 1990s, including public floggings for crimes like adultery and robbery, the outlet adds.
The country took heavy criticism in December from the international community when it carried out its first known public execution since the takeover. In that case, a man was executed in front of a crowd of hundreds, including senior Taliban officials, after he was convicted of murder. A United Nations Human Rights spokesperson <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/12/1131487" target="_blank" rel="noopener">called</a> the event “deeply disturbing.”
In August 2021, President Biden began the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-admin-working-hard-to-not-do-anything-stupid-during-afghanistan-withdrawal-anniversary-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">withdrawal</a> of American military personnel from Afghanistan after a presence in the country for 20 years. Critics called the withdrawal &#8220;disastrous,&#8221; saying it was one of the worst moments in his presidency. Many Americans and allies were left in the country, along with billions of dollars worth of weapons and equipment.
On August 26, 2021, 13 American servicemembers were killed during the Kabul airlift.
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Since the Taliban’s takeover, over 200 news organizations have had their doors closed, women have largely been prohibited from attending school, the economy shrank by 30% as of October 2022, and almost all Afghans were living in poverty, <a href="https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/taliban-afghanistan#:~:text=In%20an%20October%202022%20report,some%20form%20of%20food%20insecurity." target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the Council on Foreign Relations.
Persecution against Christians has also been rising. According to a November <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/persecution-of-christians-rising-in-at-least-18-countries-of-particular-concern-report-finds" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from the Catholic group Aid to the Church In Need, the rise of the Taliban has been “driving Christians underground,” where they “live in fear of arrest, torture, and execution.”

Taliban

Taliban Carries Out Second Public Execution In Afghanistan Since Takeover

Afghanistan

World

The families of two of the four victims slain in the University of Idaho killings last year reportedly signaled they support the death penalty for the 28-year-old man accused of the quadruple murder.
The suspect, who The Daily Wire will not name per company policy, was indicted on charges including first-degree murder six weeks after four friends and college students — Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Ethan Chapin, 20; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Madison Mogen, 21 — were stabbed to death on November 13, 2022.
Shanon Gray, the attorney representing Goncalves&#8217; family, told <a href="https://www.newsnationnow.com/crime/idaho-college-killings/idaho-victims-families-seeking-death-penalty-for-accused-killer/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NewsNation</a> that the prosecutor on the case would &#8220;meet with all the families individually and then make a decision based on that.&#8221;
“So, the Goncalves family obviously supports the death penalty in this case,” said Gray.
Gray said the families plan to pursue legal action against the city of Moscow over the next two years “seeking clarity on the state’s intention to pursue the death penalty,” the outlet reported.
“They want justice for the deaths of their daughter and Maddie (Madison Mogen), and Xana (Kernodle) and Ethan (Chapin),” Gray said on “NewsNation Prime.” “It’s part of the process. You know, the tort claims notice that I filed is just standard procedure. That’s something that has to be filed to protect the interests not only of the families but the victims and the community.”
The suspect was indicted two weeks ago on charges including first-degree murder and appeared in court on Monday for his arraignment.
He reportedly stood silently when the judge asked him to enter his plea, so the judge entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf. With pleas set, prosecutors now have 60 days to decide whether to pursue the death penalty.
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His public defender also asked the judge to set a trial date in October.
Idaho Republican Gov. Brad Little signed a law earlier this year that would make the state the fifth in the nation to authorize a firing squad as a method of execution if no lethal injection drugs are available, according to the nonprofit <a href="https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/news/idaho-steps-closer-to-using-the-firing-squad-for-executions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Death Penalty Information Center</a>.
“The law gives the director of the Idaho Department of Correction up to five days after a death warrant is issued to determine if lethal injection is available. If it is declared unavailable, the execution will be performed by firing squad,” the center’s website reads.
The law goes into effect on July 1.
Ashe Schow contributed to this report.

University of Idaho Sign

Attorney Says University Of Idaho Victims’ Families Want Death Penalty For Accused Killer: Report

Idaho Victims' Families Want Death Penalty For Accused Killer: Report

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) pushed for the death penalty in a statement Sunday for the illegal alien accused of murdering five neighbors after they asked him to stop shooting his gun because they had a baby that was sleeping.
Cruz made the remarks in response to a tweet from Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin that noted that officials have confirmed that 38-year-old Francisco Oropesa is an illegal alien and has previously been deported from the U.S. multiple times.
&#8220;Heidi &amp; I are praying for the victims’ families and for law enforcement to quickly catch this butcher &amp; bring him to justice,&#8221; Cruz said. &#8220;Once caught he must be quickly tried, and if convicted must never see sunlight again. This disgusting act deserves the death penalty, and I hope this illegal alien mass murderer gets it.&#8221;
&#8220;Joe Biden &amp; Kamala Harris made the deliberate political decision to open our borders &amp; allow SIX MILLION illegal immigrants to cross,&#8221; he added. &#8220;This death &amp; carnage is the predictable and tragic result. We must STOP the #BidenBodyBags&#8221;
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3/x Joe Biden &amp; Kamala Harris made the deliberate political decision to open our borders &amp; allow SIX MILLION illegal immigrants to cross.
This death &amp; carnage is the predictable and tragic result.
We must STOP the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BidenBodyBags?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BidenBodyBags</a>
&mdash; Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) <a href="https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/1652772651679600641?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 30, 2023</a></blockquote>
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San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers <a href="https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/crime/article/san-jacinto-cleveland-francisco-oropeza-shooting-17998704.php?utm_campaign=socialflow&amp;utm_source=twitter.com&amp;utm_medium=referral">said</a> his office was offering a $55,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Francisco Oropesa. The FBI then announced that it was adding $25,000 to the reward.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott subsequently <a href="https://twitter.com/GovAbbott/status/1652779108697362434">announced</a> that the state would add an additional $50,000 to the reward, bringing the total to $130,000.
&#8220;We don&#8217;t know where he is,&#8221; Capers said during a press conference on Sunday. &#8220;We have zero leads.&#8221;
Local media <a href="https://abc13.com/francisco-oropesa-wanted-cleveland-texas-mass-shooting-in-5-killed-san-jacinto-county/13197872/">reported</a> that there were hundreds of law enforcement officials assisting in efforts to find Oropesa.
The FBI’s field office in Houston released new photos of Oropesa on Sunday afternoon that appear to have been taken at three different moments in time because he is wearing different clothing and he appears to be in a government facility in each of the photos.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Here are the newest images of Francisco Oropesa and a prominent tattoo on his left forearm.
Going forward, the subject&#39;s last name will be spelled &quot;Oropesa&quot; to better reflect his identity in law enforcement systems. This remains a fluid investigation. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ClevelandTXShooting?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ClevelandTXShooting</a> <a href="https://t.co/ZWUu0FqoMF">pic.twitter.com/ZWUu0FqoMF</a>
&mdash; FBI Houston (@FBIHouston) <a href="https://twitter.com/FBIHouston/status/1652741831887601666?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 30, 2023</a></blockquote>
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US-AFGHANISTAN-CONFLICT-POLITICS-BLINKEN

Ted Cruz Pushes Death Penalty For Illegal Alien Accused Of Murdering 5 In Texas

Illegal Immigration

Ted Cruz

A new Idaho law will allow death row inmates to be executed by firing squad, making the &#8220;Gem State&#8221; one of only five states that allow that method of execution.
According to a <a href="https://apnews.com/article/idaho-firing-squad-executions-410bd284ffbdb50d3b4a162fe8088dad?taid=6418a828dc22cf0001e8c334&amp;utm_campaign=TrueAnthem&amp;utm_medium=AP&amp;utm_source=Twitter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from the Associated Press, the bill passed with a veto-proof majority — and only allows a <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/south-carolina-state-house-votes-to-add-firing-squad-to-execution-methods/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">firing squad</a> to be used for executions in the state if the drug cocktail used for lethal injections is unavailable at the time.
&#8220;A bill that would allow execution by firing squad in Idaho, only if the state cannot obtain drugs needed for lethal injections, passed the Legislature with a veto-proof majority,&#8221; the AP tweeted on Monday. &#8220;Only four other states have laws allowing firing squads.&#8221;
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BREAKING: A bill that would allow execution by firing squad in Idaho, only if the state cannot obtain drugs needed for lethal injections, passed the Legislature with a veto-proof majority. Only four other states have laws allowing firing squads. <a href="https://t.co/xw7g6C1CEi">https://t.co/xw7g6C1CEi</a>
&mdash; The Associated Press (@AP) <a href="https://twitter.com/AP/status/1637886364019466250?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 20, 2023</a></blockquote>
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A number of states have made the move to explore alternatives to the standard lethal injection drugs — in part because over the last several years, some pharmaceutical companies have moved to reject orders from executioners.
&#8220;Pfizer makes its products to enhance and save the lives of the patients we serve,&#8221; the drug company <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/05/13/478000084/pharmaceutical-company-pfizer-to-stop-selling-drugs-for-use-in-lethal-injections" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced in 2016</a> coupled with a statement indicating that the company would not sell to state governments if they planned to use the drugs for executions — or would sell them to a private party that would do so. &#8220;Pfizer strongly objects to the use of its products as lethal injections for capital punishment.&#8221;
During former President Donald Trump&#8217;s administration, 13 federal inmates were executed using the sedative drug pentobarbital — but defense attorneys argued at the time that the drug could cause a drowning sensation and suggested that a firing squad might even be more humane.
A 2019 filing cited experts who said otherwise, however, claiming that death by firing squad was not always immediate and the condemned person&#8217;s final moments could be &#8220;severely painful, especially related to shattering of bone and damage to the spinal cord.&#8221;
Critics of the new Idaho law were quick to speak out — including Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA), who attacked the state&#8217;s Republican leadership for green-lighting the change.
&#8220;The @GOP are so pro life they believe death by firing squad is &#8216;humane,'&#8221; he tweeted.
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The <a href="https://twitter.com/GOP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GOP</a> are so pro life they believe death by firing squad is “humane.” <a href="https://t.co/PxQNGumUsV">https://t.co/PxQNGumUsV</a>
&mdash; Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) <a href="https://twitter.com/GavinNewsom/status/1637962777917816832?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 20, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Other states have considered bringing back the electric chair if drug companies will not cooperate, and in 2018, Nevada made a <a href="https://apnews.com/article/north-america-ne-state-wire-us-news-ap-top-news-lincoln-5df07889ab7a433aa31d7af76d95a6a4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">first attempt</a> at lethal injection using the synthetic opioid fentanyl in place of any of the traditional drug cocktails.

Deer Hunter.

New Idaho Law Will Allow Execution By Firing Squad

execution

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