President Joe Biden is commuting the sentences of nearly every inmate on the federal government’s death row, a sweeping decision aimed at hampering newly elected President Donald Trump’s ability to quickly resume executions.
Biden will commute the sentences of 37 of 40 men sentenced to death, the second mass clemency in the weeks following the pardon he granted to his son, Hunter Biden.
The president called for commutations of the death penalty, which would instead sentence them to life in prison without the possibility of parole, in line with his administration’s moratorium on executions.
“Make no mistake: I condemn these murderers, mourn the victims of their despicable actions, and mourn all the families who have suffered unimaginable and irreparable losses,” Biden said in a statement Monday. “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 end the use of the death penalty at the federal level.”
Biden added that the commutations were also fueled by Trump’s staunch support for the death penalty, saying he could not allow the new administration to resume executions of those he had spared over the past four years.
Thirteen federal prisoners were put to death during Trump’s first term. In some cases he took cases to the Supreme Court to dismiss their final legal appeals.
Biden’s commutation excludes three inmates convicted of what the president characterized as terrorism or “hate-motivated mass murder”: Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and mass shooters Robert Bowers — who killed 11 people at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh — and Dylann Roof, who killed nine people at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina.
This move does nothing for people sentenced to death in state courts, which far outnumber the federal number. The Death Penalty Information Center counts 2,241 people on state or federal death row in the US, or at risk of being sentenced to death in a new trial.
Biden’s decision follows a Justice Department recommendation to allow the commutations, and amid mounting pressure from a range of groups that have advocated for a range of clemency measures in his final days. While the administration has done little to follow up on Biden’s support for abolishing the death penalty in 2020, it did halt all executions and conduct a death penalty review that the Justice Department is now about to release.
The president’s pardon for his son, Hunter, sparked a bipartisan backlash. He subsequently commuted the sentences of nearly 1,500 people convicted of nonviolent crimes and pardoned another 39.
That mass clemency also proved controversial, with Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro labeling the inclusion of a notorious former Pennsylvania judge as “absolutely wrong.”
Biden is also sure to face immediate criticism for protecting almost everyone on death row from execution. Several Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, had already rejected the prospect of commutations for granting clemency to some of the country’s most notorious killers. Ahead of that, the White House on Monday also released a long list of quotes from clemency activists and other advocacy groups praising Biden’s decision.
The White House also indicated that more clemency actions may be on the way. Biden is reviewing additional pardons and commutations, and commits to “taking additional steps to provide meaningful second chances” in the weeks before he leaves office.
