Two days before Christmas, President Joe Biden commuted the death sentences of 37 of the 40 inmates remaining on federal Death Row.
The action follows an organized campaign by death penalty opponents — including some evangelicals — asking Biden to take the unprecedented step before leaving office Jan. 20. His successor in the White House, Donald Trump, has a track record of accelerating capital punishment.
Full commutations, the groups argued, would prevent a repeat of the Trump administration’s execution of 13 federal prisoners between July 2020 and January 2021. A commutation does not overturn a guilty verdict but converts a death sentence to a life sentence. It is different than a pardon.
“Today, President Biden announced that he is commuting the sentences of 37 individuals on federal Death Row. Those individuals will have their sentences reclassified from execution to life without the possibility of parole,” said a Dec. 23 statement from the White House.
Biden “believes America must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level, except in cases of terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder — which is why today’s actions apply to all but those cases,” the statement added.
The only three Death Row inmates whose sentences were not commuted are Robert D. Bowers, who in 2018 gunned down 11 worshipers at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh; Dylann Roof, who in 2015 shot nine parishioners at Mother Emmanuel Church in Charleston, S.C.; and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, one of two brothers who carried out the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013 that killed three and maimed more than a dozen others.
“I am more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level.”
Of the commutations, Biden said: “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. But guided by my conscience and my experience as a public defender, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, vice president, and now president, 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.”
Earlier, Biden imposed a moratorium on federal executions. Trump likely will lift that moratorium, given his track record.
Nationwide, support for capital punishment has been declining since the 1970s, according to multiple national polling firms. Support for the practice remains strongest among Republicans, although even some evangelical Trump supporters now oppose the death penalty.
Opposition to capital punishment often is based on the realization that America’s judicial system produces uneven results on death penalty cases, with a large number of exonerations and a documented bias toward executing Black men and poor people.
Twenty-seven states still maintain laws allowing capital punishment. A total of 2,180 people currently live on Death Row in those states, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
Reaction to Biden’s commutation from death penalty opponents was effusive.
“President Biden has sent a strong message to Americans that the death penalty is not the answer to our country’s concerns about public safety.”
Bryan Stevenson, founder and executive director of Equal Justice Initiative: “Today marks an important turning point in ending America’s tragic and error-prone use of the death penalty. By commuting almost all federal death sentences, President Biden has sent a strong message to Americans that the death penalty is not the answer to our country’s concerns about public safety. I commend President Biden for recognizing that we don’t have to kill people to show that killing is wrong, that we can and should reduce violence in our communities by refusing to sanction more violence and killing in our courts and prisons.”
Martin Luther King III: “This is a historic day. By commuting these sentences, President Biden has done what no president before him was willing to do: take meaningful and lasting action not just to acknowledge the death penalty’s racist roots but also to remedy its persistent unfairness.”
Donnie Oliverio, a retired police officer in Columbus, Ohio, whose police partner was killed by one of the men whose death sentences were commuted today. “I would like to commend President Biden for the important action he has taken today,” Mr. Oliverio said. “Putting to death the person who killed my police partner and best friend would have brought me no peace. The President has done what is right here, and what is consistent with the faith he and I share. Thank you, Mr. President.”
Olga L. Castro and Eulogio Castro, who lost their brother, Victor, in a federally charged murder, had asked President Biden to commute the death sentences of the perpetrators. They underscored that an execution would “not make us feel better,” but “would cause us more pain.” In their words, “only God gives life and only God should take away life.”
Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy, executive director of Catholic Mobilizing Network: “We are grateful and relieved the president has exercised his constitutional authority in a manner that aligns with his faith. This is a historic decision that we hope serves as a model to leaders at the state level to follow suit.”
Joia Thornton, executive director of Faith Leaders of Color Coalition: “President Biden has answered the prayers of hundreds of Black faith leaders who urged him to make this courageous decision. This decision also ensures that the door to redemption remains open for the men who will now serve life sentences instead of facing execution.”
Anthony Romero, executive director of American Civil Liberties Union: “President Biden took a historic and courageous step in addressing the failed death penalty in the United States. With a stroke of his pen, the president locks in his legacy as a leader who stands for racial justice, humanity and morality. This will undoubtedly be one of the seminal achievements of the Biden presidency.”
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