Headline RoundupDecember 11th, 2020

Trump Administration Executes Brandon Bernard in Record-Setting String of Executions

Summary from the AllSides News Team

The Trump administration is set to execute a record 13 federal prisoners by the end of President Donald Trump’s term. On Thursday, Brandon Bernard was executed for his involvement in the 1999 murder of two youth ministers. Bernard, 40, was the youngest federal prisoner to be executed in 70 years, and his case sparked a wave of activism against the death penalty that garnered high-profile support. The Supreme Court denied Bernard’s request for a stay of execution despite the support of the Court’s three liberal justices. Prior to the Justice Department’s July decision to resume executions, only three federal executions had taken place in the previous four decades. Four more federal executions are scheduled to take place before Trump leaves office in January, including one on Friday. Coverage across the spectrum was split between coverage of Bernard’s case, celebrity activism, Bernard’s execution, and executions generally. Coverage in left- and center-rated outlets was more likely to report the overall number of executions carried out under the Trump administration.

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From the Right

Texas man executed despite appeals from Kim Kardashian West, Democrats

Washington Times

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Washington Times

News

A Texas man convicted of killing married youth ministers before setting their car on fire while they were inside was executed Thursday night, despite last-minute appeals from Democratic officials and Kim Kardashian West.

Brandon Bernard, 40, was pronounced dead at 9:27 p.m. after getting a lethal injection at the federal prison complex in Terre Haute, Indiana. He is the ninth federal inmate executed this year.

The execution came after the Supreme Court denied last-minute legal challenges from Bernard’s attorneys, who had argued that newly-discovered evidence suggested he did not play...

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From the Left

Trump's last word on executions

Axios

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Axios

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The Trump administration is shattering a gruesome record on its way out, executing more federal prisoners in a matter of months — including two this week — than over the past several decades combined.

Why it matters: President-elect Biden opposes the death penalty and has said he wants to end its use. New U.S. presidents can undo many of their predecessors' actions, but executions are uniquely irreversible.

Driving the news: Alfred Bourgeois, 56, was scheduled to be executed early Friday for torturing and killing his 2-year-old daughter.

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From the Left

Trump administration puts Brandon Bernard to death amid rushed series of executions

The Guardian

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The Guardian

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The Trump administration has executed Brandon Bernard, after the US supreme court denied a last-minute request to delay his killing. Bernard’s execution is one of five that the Trump administration is rushing through before Joe Biden takes office.

The execution on Thursday night was the ninth federal execution since since July, when Donald Trump ended a 17-year hiatus in federal executions, and the first during a presidential lame-duck period in 130 years.

Bernard’s legal team had requested that the court grant them an additional two weeks to build up a...

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