ACLU Legal Director: ‘Death Penalty Is Cruel and Unusual'

(NECN) - Thursday, federal prosecutors announced they would seek the death penalty against Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

Matt Segal of the American Civil Liberties Union in Massachusetts joined NECN to explain that he

"I completely agree that the views of the people of Boston, the people affected, are relevant and important," said Segal. "One thing to keep in mind is that shortly after the bombing, a poll showed that by nearly two to one, the people of Boston wanted to accept a sentence of life imprisonment rather than the death penalty for Mr. Tsarnaev."

Segal argued that the death penalty is wrong in all cases.

"Although it's understandable that people are grieving and understandable that people want justice, in effect, the death penalty is cruel and unusual in every case, and it is discriminatory and arbitrary as applied."

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