Biden says he is commuting nearly all federal death sentences!
Washington DC - President Joe Biden on Monday commuted the federal death sentences of 37 of 40 people, taking action ahead of the return of Donald Trump, who oversaw an execution spree during his first term.
With less than a month left in office, Biden had faced growing calls from death penalty opponents to commute the sentences of those on death row to life in prison without parole, which the 37 will now serve.
"These commutations are consistent with the moratorium my Administration has imposed on federal executions, in cases other than terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder," Biden said in a statement, issued just less than two weeks after he commuted the sentences of nearly 1,500 people and pardoned 39 others.
"I am commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 individuals on federal death row to life sentences without the possibility of parole."
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who helped carry out the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, will remain on federal death row.
So too will Dylann Roof, a white supremacist who in 2015 shot and killed nine Black churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina and Robert Bowers, who killed 11 Jewish worshipers during a 2018 mass shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh.
Those commuted included nine people convicted of murdering people they were incarcerated with, four for murders committed during bank robberies, and one who killed a prison guard.
"Make no mistake: I condemn these murderers, grieve for the victims of their despicable acts, and ache for all the families who have suffered unimaginable and irreparable loss," Biden said.
"But guided by my conscience and my experience...I am more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level."
Fears over Trump's plans to expand use of death penalty
Biden campaigned for the White House as an opponent of the death penalty, and the Justice Department issued a moratorium on its use at the federal level after he became president.
During his reelection campaign, Trump spoke frequently of expanding the use of capital punishment to include immigrants who kill American citizens and drug and human traffickers.
Trump resumed federal executions in July 2020 after a 17-year pause.
He oversaw 13 executions by lethal injection during his final six months in power, more than any US leader in 120 years.
The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of 50 states, while six others – Arizona, California, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee – have moratoriums in place.
In 2024, there have been 25 executions in the US, all at the state level.
Cover photo: Biden moves to commute nearly all federal death sentences!