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Biden commutes sentences of 37 federal death row inmates
President Joe Biden announced Monday that he is commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 people on federal death row, changing their punishments to life imprisonment. The decision comes just weeks before President-elect Donald Trump, a vocal supporter for growing capital punishment, takes office.
WASHINGTON - President Joe Biden announced Monday that he is commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 people on federal death row, changing their punishments to life imprisonment. The decision comes just weeks before President-elect Donald Trump, a vocal supporter for growing capital punishment, takes office.
The commutations spare the lives of individuals convicted of various murders, including the slayings of police and military officers, killings on federal land, and those involved in deadly bank robberies or drug deals. It also includes the killings of guards or prisoners in federal facilities.
This move leaves only three federal inmates still facing death: Dylann Roof, who carried out the 2015 racist slayings of nine Black members of Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina; 2013 Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev; and Robert Bowers, who fatally shot 11 congregants at Pittsburgh's Tree of Life Synagogue in 2018, the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history.
President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the overthrow and collapse of the Syrian government under Bashar al-Assad, Sunday, December 8, 2024, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz)
Statement from President Joe Biden on Federal Death Row Commutations
"I’ve dedicated my career to reducing violent crime and ensuring a fair and effective justice system.
Today, I am commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 individuals on federal death row to life sentences without the possibility of parole. These commutations are consistent with the moratorium my Administration has imposed on federal executions, in cases other than terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder.
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."
The Source: The Associated Press, the White House Press Office, and FOX 5 contributed to this report.