Supreme Court to consider reinstating death sentences for Boston Marathon bomber

Washington — The Supreme Court will convene Wednesday to hear oral arguments in a legal dispute involving the fate of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, whose death sentences were tossed out by a lower court last year.

The Biden administration is asking the high court to reinstate the capital sentences that Tsarnaev, now 28, received for his acts in the deadly bombings that took place eight years ago, and the justices are set to hear arguments days after participants crossed the finish line at the 125th running of the marathon, held Monday. 

"At the most basic level, [Tsarnaev] made the choice to commit a terrorist attack against children and other innocent spectators at the marathon, and the jury held him accountable for that choice," acting Solicitor General Brian Fletcher told the Supreme Court in a filing last month of the bombing.

Tsarnaev was convicted in 2015 for his role in the attack at the Boston Marathon in 2013, which left three dead and more than 260 others injured. While Tsarnaev's lawyers have admitted he and his older brother, Tamerlan, detonated the two homemade devices near the race's finish line, they've painted Tamerlan Tsarnaev as the mastermind behind the attack and argued the younger Tsarnaev acted under his brother's influence.

The two brothers attempted to flee the state in the wake of the bombing, sparking a four-day manhunt that put Boston and the surrounding areas in lockdown. Tsarnaev was ultimately arrested by police after he was found hiding out in a boat behind a house in Watertown, Massachusetts, but Tamerlan Tsarnaev died in a shootout with police as they pursued the pair.