Biden Reduces Death Sentences for 37 Federal Inmates
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Washington, December 23 (NationPress) US President Joe Biden on Monday commuted the death sentences of 37 out of 40 inmates currently on federal death row.
“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,” he stated.
Reflecting on his tenure as a public defender and his roles in the Senate, as Vice President, and now as President, Biden emphasized, "I am more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level. In good conscience, I cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted."
The commutations arrive just under a month before President-elect Donald Trump, a proponent of the death penalty, will take office for a second term.
It’s essential to note that these commutations pertain solely to the 37 federal inmates and not those sentenced to death at the state level. In total, there are approximately 2250 prisoners on death row across the United States, as reported by the Death Penalty Information Centre, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing data and analysis surrounding capital punishment and its implications.
The remaining three inmates still facing execution are those implicated in terrorism and racially motivated mass killings: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, convicted for the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing that resulted in three fatalities; Dylann Roof, responsible for the 2015 church shooting in Charleston, South Carolina, that claimed nine lives; and Robert Bowers, who fatally shot 11 congregants at a synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 2018.
Biden, a devout Catholic, has long opposed the death penalty and his administration has enforced a moratorium on federal executions. The White House clarified in a statement regarding the president's decision, "his actions today will prevent the next Administration from carrying out execution sentences that would not be handed down under current policy and practice."
Pope Francis has also been among the voices urging the US leader to commute death penalties. "Today, it comes to my heart to ask all of you to pray for the prisoners in the United States who are on death row," the Pontiff expressed on December 8. "Let's pray that their sentence would be commuted (or) changed."
