Supreme Court Reinstates Death Penalty for Boston Marathon Bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev

The United States Supreme Court reinstated the death sentence for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev for his involvement in the bombing of the Boston Marathon in 2013, per Mark Sherman of the Associated Press.

Tsarnaev was convicted of 30 charges, including using a weapon of mass destruction, for his role in a bombing that killed three people and injured hundreds more at the finish line of the historic race.

A jury in Boston's U.S. District Court ruled in favor of the death penalty for Tsarnaev, but it was later vacated by the U.S. Court of Appeals in August 2020. 

The Supreme Court agreed to take on the case, with the Biden administration arguing the initial death penalty ruling in the case was correct. The justices voted 6-3 to overturn the appeals court and reinstate the death sentence for the 28-year-old.

"Dzhokhar Tsarnaev committed heinous crimes. The Sixth Amendment nonetheless guaranteed him a fair trial before an impartial jury. He received one," Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the majority.

Dzhokhar's older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, was also involved in the bombing but was killed after being run over by his brother during a gunfight with police shortly afterward.