Majority Supremes Uphold Wrongful Conviction and Capital Punishment

by Stephen Lendman

In April 2013, Dzhokkar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev were framed as patsies for what was called the Boston Marathon bombing.

Local police lethally shot brother Tamerlan near Watertown, MA. 

Dzhokhar was arrested, falsely charged, convicted and sentenced to death. 

Neither brother was involved with the incident, a state-sponsored false flag.

Like many times before in the US, innocent patsies were wrongfully punished, innocence not enough to save them.

At the time, Dzhokhar's father, Anzor, said his sons had nothing to do with the bombings. 

US "special services went after them because my sons are Muslims, and don't have anyone in America to protect them."

"I'm sure about my children, in their purity. I don't know what happened or who did this…I fear for my son, for his life."

Neither son was trained or had knowledge of explosives or firearms.

Their mother, Zubeidat, said both sons were set up. 

FBI operatives followed them for years. 

Her eldest son Tamerlan "was controlled by the FBI, like for three, five years," she said.

"They knew what (he) was doing."

"They knew what actions were and what sites on the Internet he was (accessing)." 

"They used to come (to our) home."

"They used to talk to me." 

'They were telling me that (Tamerlan) was really an extremist leader and that they were afraid of him."

"They told me whatever information he is getting, he gets from these extremist sites."

"They were controlling him." 

"They were controlling his every step (and) now they say that this is a terrorist act." 

"Never ever is this true. My sons are innocent."

Asked if they had secret aspirations and dark secrets, she said: 

"That's impossible. My sons would never keep a secret."

In July 2020, US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit panel unanimously overturned Dzhokhar's death sentence, saying:

The trial judge failed to adequately question jurors about their exposure to pretrial publicity about the incident. 

Weeks later, Trump regime AG William Barr vowed to "do whatever's necessary" to appeal the decision and "pursue the death penalty" against Dzhokhar. 

In October 2020, the (In)justice Department filed a petition for writ of certiorari, seeking Supreme Court intervention in the case. 

On Friday, the Supremes reinstated the death penalty against wrongfully convicted Dzhokhar by a 6 - 3 majority ruling.

He had nothing to do with placing one of two so-called "pressure cooker" bombs near the April 2013 Boston Marathon's finish line — killing three, injuring around 260 others.

Writing for the Court's majority, Clarence Thomas falsely said the following:

"Dzhokhar Tsarnaev committed heinous crimes (sic)." 

"The Sixth Amendment nonetheless guaranteed him a fair trial before an impartial jury (sic)." 

"He received one (sic)." 

"The judgment of the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit is reversed."

Justices Roberts, Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Barrett allied with Thomas to reverse the First Circuit's ruling.

Breyer, Kagan, and Sotomayor dissented.

Dzhokhar is serving a life sentence at Colorado's ADX Florence prison — the sole federal supermax facility.

According to the DOJ's National Institute of Corrections, supermax confinement is in "special housing unit(s), maxi-maxi, maximum control facilit(ies), secured housing unit(s), intensive management unit(s), and administrative maximum penitentiar(ies.)."

They're "highly restrictive, high-custody housing units within a secure facility."

They "isolate inmates from the general prison population and from each other due to grievous crimes, repetitive assaultive or violent institutional behavior, the threat of escape or actual escape from high-custody facility(s), or inciting or threatening to incite disturbances in a correctional institution."

In a 1999 report titled, "Supermax Prisons: Overview and General Considerations," the DOJ said the following: 

"Although "concentration, dispersal, and isolation are not new, the development of 'supermax' prisons is a relatively recent trend." 

"Prisons always had "prisons within the prison" for their worst inmates (usually called administrative segregation), and most states operate one or more facilities for their most threatening inmates." 

They're for society's "worst of the worst."

Alcatraz was the prototype until closed in 1963. 

Prison wardens aware of cruel and unusual punishment in supermax confinement call it a fate "worse than death."

Prisoners are confined to windowless single cells about 7 by 12 feet for up to 23 hours a day, with a shower and concrete bed. 

Inmates have few if any programs. 

Little constructive activity is offered. 

Few visits are allowed, almost no direct contact ones.

There's very little human contact overall. 

Most inmates are incarcerated for life. For others, sentences are determinate. 

Imagine being isolated in less than 100 square feet of windowless space with nearly no human contact for the rest of your life — especially if young, like Dzhokhar, when confined.

A fate worse than death indeed.

A Final Comment

Longterm isolated confinement crushes the mind and spirit, along with taking a horrendous physical toll — over time causing:

severe anxiety

panic attacks

lethargy

insomnia

nightmares

dizziness

irrational anger, at times uncontrollable

confusion

social withdrawal

memory loss

appetite loss

delusions and hallucinations

mutilations

profound despair and hopelessness

suicidal thoughts;

paranoia 

For many, a totally dysfunctional state and inability ever to live normally outside of confinement.

Prisoner anecdotes describe the experience:

"People come in with a few problems and leave as sociopaths.

You're like a "caged animal. I've seen people just crack and either scream for hours on end or cry."

Isolation "creates monsters (who) want revenge on society."

We "have a sense of hopelessness. Plus my anger (is) a silent rage…I am beginning to really hate people."

"They…try to break a person down mentally (and) mental abuse leaves no evidence behind (like) physical abuse."

Others say isolation is like being buried alive in a tomb.

When longterm, it often causes irreversible psychological trauma and harm, a condition no society should inflict on anyone, nor should lawmakers allow it.

Yet thousands in the US are irreversibly harmed this way, including wrongfully convicted victims of injustice like Dzhokkar.