President Biden on Monday commuted the sentences of nearly all prisoners on federal death row, saving 37 men from execution just a month before Donald J. Trump assumes office again with plans to restart federal executions. The men affected by Biden's action, all convicted of murder, will now serve life imprisonment without the chance of parole. Only three men who committed infamous mass killings will stay on federal death row.
Biden campaigned in 2020 to end the federal death penalty. Although his proposed legislation did not pass in Congress, he directed the Justice Department to stop federal executions. Thirteen federal prisoners were executed during Trump's first term. Biden expressed that he believes in ending the death penalty at the federal level and cannot allow a new administration to resume the executions he had stopped.
Biden stated that his commutations align with the standard he set for halting executions, except for cases involving terrorism and hate-driven mass murder. He condemned the murderers and expressed sorrow for their victims and families. The White House shared supportive statements from faith leaders, civil rights advocates, and law enforcement, including retired police officer Donnie Oliverio, who acknowledged the president's Catholic faith.
Among the 37 men whose sentences were commuted, there are 15 white, 15 Black, six Latino, and one Asian. They were sentenced across 16 states, with some coming from states that have abolished the death penalty. The three remaining men eligible for federal execution are Robert D. Bowers, Dylann Roof, and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who are each responsible for mass killings.
Various groups, including party members and civil rights organizations, urged Biden to commute the death row sentences. Recently, he spoke with Pope Francis, who prayed for the commutation of federal inmates’ sentences. The Pope and other Catholic leaders had previously called for the death sentences to be commuted.
Trump supports the death penalty and advocated for its expansion during his 2024 campaign, specifying offenses like drug dealing and human trafficking. He resumed federal executions in his first term after a hiatus of nearly two decades. Biden has not reiterated his intention to end the federal death penalty but has imposed a moratorium on federal executions. Despite this, the Justice Department reversed its stance earlier this year by seeking the death penalty in a federal case against Payton Gendron, who killed 10 Black people in a racially motivated shooting.
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, since 1973, at least 200 people wrongly convicted and sentenced to death have been exonerated. The president's clemency powers only apply to federal offenses, which represent a small portion of all death sentences in the country. As Biden's presidency nears its end, he faces pressure to grant more clemency amid calls from Democrats to address outdated laws contributing to racial disparities in drug sentencing and mass incarceration.
Recently, Biden issued a pardon for his son, Hunter Biden, after claiming he would not. This decision received criticism from both political opponents and some within his party, highlighting ongoing tensions regarding clemency among Democrats and the push for more proactive measures to assist those impacted by disparities in the legal system.
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