[ad_1]<\/p>\n
The <\/span>126th Boston Marathon<\/span><\/a> is set to take place on Monday. As the race approaches, a separate race against time occurs as <\/span>Boston Marathon bomber<\/span><\/a> Dzhokhar Tsarnaev attempts to avoid the death penalty.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In 2015, a jury found Tsarnaev guilty of 30 terrorism-related charges for perpetrating <\/span>a series of bombings<\/span><\/a> near the Boston Marathon\u2019s finish line in 2013 which killed three and injured hundreds more. He was <\/span>sentenced to death for six of his charges<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n While Massachusetts <\/span>outlawed the death penalty in 1984<\/span><\/a>, Tsarnev could still be executed for crimes he committed in the state\u2019s capitol because he was tried in a federal court.<\/span><\/p>\n Rachel Otty, a history teacher at <\/span>Cambridge Rindge and Latin School<\/span>, spoke about her personal feelings regarding the case.<\/span><\/p>\n Otty said she taught both Dzhokhar and his brother, <\/span>Tamerlan Tsarnaev<\/span><\/a>, who was also deemed responsible in the 2013 attacks but died in a shootout with police days afterward.<\/span><\/p>\n She remembered Dzhokhar as friendly and popular, although not particularly eager to participate in class.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Otty does not believe that her former student should face execution for his crimes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201c<\/span>I am against capital punishment,\u201d Otty said. \u201cIt is cruel and unusual for the state to carry out murder.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Some psychological experts agree.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201c\u2018Cruel and unusual\u2019 is supposed to be a standard that evolves as society evolves,\u201d said Rena Isen, forensic psychologist for the state of Tennessee. \u201c<\/span>Nelson Mandela said, \u2018A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones.\u2019 What does the death penalty say about our society?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Academic experts on the subject cite the reasons for its use. When asked if he considered the death penalty \u201ccruel and unusual,\u201d Case Western Reserve University instructor in law, Michael Benza, spoke on the outside factors that typically influence execution verdicts.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201c<\/span>Our long and often unfortunate history of capital punishment, as well as our modern experience, demonstrates that our use of the death penalty is often based more on the issues of race, poverty and the issues of Constitutional errors than on the merits of the case,\u201d Benza said.<\/span><\/p>\n In one of the multiple appeals filed in an attempt to temporarily suspend Tsarnaev\u2019s execution, his lawyers accused prosecutors of \u201ccourting Islamophobia\u201d <\/span>in 2019, among other alleged issues of bias<\/span><\/a>. <\/span>Ultimately, the First Circuit Court of Appeals <\/span>vacated Tsarnev\u2019s death sentence<\/span><\/a> in 2020 due to the \u201c<\/span>unprecedented amount of media coverage<\/span><\/a>,\u201d that his crimes and case received.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Isen said she believes that considering capital punishment on a case-by-case basis is the right way to go about sentencing. However, she noted the issues that arise when the laws surrounding the death penalty have flexibility.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201c<\/span>When we don\u2019t have clearly defined sentencing laws, it is imperative that we have measures to prevent bias from impacting sentencing,\u201d Isen said. \u201cOtherwise, we will continue to disproportionately impose the death penalty on certain groups.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Benza said he believes that many of the convicts on death row fall into common categories.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201c<\/span>Typically those facing capital cases are poor, minority, disenfranchised from society, usually suffer from forms of mental health issues, substance abuse issues and come from extremely traumatic backgrounds,\u201d Benza said. \u201cBut each person on death row is an individual who has his or her own unique history.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n In early March, the Supreme Court of the United States <\/span>reinstated<\/span><\/a> Tsarnaev\u2019s death penalty. Subsequently, <\/span>another appeal<\/span><\/a> was filed April 7 with the First Circuit Court of Appeals asking the court to consider four constitutional claims.<\/span><\/p>\n Benza clarifies that the use of capital punishment in this case does not reflect any permanent change in Massachusetts\u2019 state legislation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201c<\/span>The death penalty was not brought back in Massachusetts,\u201d Benza said. \u201cRather, Tsarnaev was tried in federal court under a federal death penalty indictment.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Possible punishments for Tsarnaev include the death penalty and a <\/span>lifetime in prison<\/span><\/a> based upon arguments made in federal appeals court.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Isen says that a life-long prison sentence might be just as severe of a punishment as the death penalty.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201c<\/span>Having worked in multiple prisons, I believe that a life sentence can be more severe,\u201d Isen said. \u201cRegardless of the conditions, being imprisoned is incredibly demoralizing and dehumanizing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Isen also said that the attitudes that inmates themselves have towards the death penalty, as opposed to a life sentence, vary.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n She does believe that some convicts can benefit from the second chance a life sentence has to offer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI have known many inmates serving life sentences who have turned their lives around and found ways to be productive members of society while in prison,\u201d Isen said. \u201cThey often see it as their life\u2019s mission to help others avoid the same mistakes, and they become a mentor to other inmates.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n