skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Wednesday, March 5, 2025

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Trump says he's 'just getting started' amid Democratic protests; Changes in US immigration policy impact AR college campuses; HUD pulls federal Fair Housing grants in MT, US; and rule changes sought for SD citizen-backed ballot questions.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Democrats sue to prevent Trump's takeover of the Federal Elections Commission, a privatized postal service could make mail-in voting more difficult, and states move ahead with their own versions of the Equal Rights Amendment.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

U.S. farmers are left twisting in the wind over farm projects the federal funding freeze has stalled, parks and public lands could be a mess for visiting tourists this summer, while money to fight rural wildfires is in jeopardy.

Death Penalty Opponents Seek End to Federal Executions

play audio
Play

Friday, January 6, 2023   

Virginia is the only Southern state to have abolished the death penalty, and there's a new push in the new year to end it nationally as well.

Almost 300 organizations are demanding that President Joe Biden abolish the federal death penalty. This comes as members of Congress have sent a letter to that effect to both Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland. Currently, the U.S. Justice Department has halted federal executions to conduct a review of policies and procedures.

Abraham Bonowitz, executive director of the group Death Penalty Action, described what backers are hoping to accomplish.

"We have a coalition of folks that have been organizing around the questions on the federal death penalty and the President's intention to end federal executions, which - he's put a pause on them, but there's more that the president has the power to do," Bonowitz said. "And we wanted to make sure that that stays on the radar."

In 2021, the Federal Death Penalty Prohibition Act was introduced in both houses of Congress. It would prohibit a death sentence for violations of federal law, and require that anyone convicted before its passage be resentenced. In the House, it's been referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security. In the Senate, it's in the Judiciary Committee.

At the state level, Bonowitz also hopes to work to ensure passage of bills to abolish the death penalty. Virginia is one of 23 states that have done so. At the federal level, he said there are concerns about what can be approved given the disarray in the current session of Congress so far.

"We don't pretend to think that this is a top-priority issue for anybody," he said. "There are no federal executions going forward. However, we want to make sure when something happens that brings this issue to the forefront - which could be any time - that we're ready."

He noted that since the federal moratorium on executions is under the Biden administration, it could be ended should someone else become president in 2024.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
The Alabama Department of Labor reported the state's labor force participation rate rose to 57.7% in December. (Lane Erickson/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

A bill moving through the Alabama Legislature could change how people who are unemployed can qualify for benefits. House Bill 29, sponsored by Rep…


Social Issues

play sound

As the Trump administration's deportation efforts continue, more people find themselves in immigration court. Immigration law is complicated…

Environment

play sound

Environmental groups are voicing concerns about plans to build the nation's first small modular reactors at the Palisades Nuclear Plant in Covert Town…


In 2023, about $4.2 million in settlement funds were disbursed to U.S. communities affected by discrimination, according to the National Fair Housing Alliance. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Since the Fair Housing Act was established in 1968 to make discrimination in housing illegal, nonprofits around the country have helped investigate …

Social Issues

play sound

A South Dakota Senate committee considers several bills today to overhaul rules for getting citizen-led measures on the ballot. The proposals are …

Protesters in California and across the nation came together for a day of action on Tuesday to underscore the importance of making higher education more accessible and affordable. (Matt Hardy/California Federation of Teachers)

Social Issues

play sound

Several hundred protesters marched to the Capitol building in Sacramento on Tuesday, calling for better funding for education. The event was part of …

Social Issues

play sound

Concerned parents are pushing the authorities to help parks and day cares remove sand from sandboxes contaminated with ash after the Los Angeles fires…

Social Issues

play sound

Gov. Kim Reynolds has signed a measure that removes gender identity protections for LGBTQ+ people from Iowa's civil rights code. Opponents call it …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021