The Independent Trump carries out first ‘lame duck’ execution for 130 years

Incoming House Democrat Cori Bush is calling on president-elect Joe Biden to offer clemency to all prisoners on death row. Her comments come as the outgoing Trump administration presses ahead with a spate of federal executions despite a surge of coronavirus cases in prisons. Writing in a piece published by Time magazine on Monday, Ms Bush, representative-elect for Missouri's 1st congressional district, called on Mr Biden to consider permanently ending the federal government's "legal torture" of inmates when he assumes office. “There is no place for the death penalty in a just, humane society,” she wrote. “It doesn’t have to be this way. Under the Constitution, presidents have the extraordinary power to shorten sentences and erase convictions altogether. CBiden to select former Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm as energy secretary, reports say She added: "With the stroke of a pen, he can grant clemency to all who are on federal death row, reducing their sentences or pardoning them altogether. “If he truly opposes the death penalty, he must do everything in his power to stop it for good”. Ending executions is about "making it clear that our government should not have the power to end a life",. Please enter your email addressPlease enter a valid email addressPlease enter a valid email address S The Independent would like to keep you informed about offers, events and updates by email, please tick the box if you would like to be contacted Read our full mailing list consent terms here Ms Bush, a trained nurse and pastor who was once homeless, referenced Brandon Bernard, a black American who was put to death last week. Aged 40, Bernard was the youngest offender to be executed by the federal government in nearly 70 years. He was sentenced to death for a murder he committed when he was a teenager almost 20 years ago. The Department of Justice announced last year that it would resume federal capital punishment following an almost two-decades-long hiatus.