"U.S. President Joe Biden has commuted the sentences of 37 out of 40 federal death row inmates, replacing their penalties with life imprisonment without parole.
The three individuals excluded from this decision include the Boston Marathon bomber and the perpetrator of the 2018 attack on Jewish worshippers.
In a statement, Biden expressed his firm opposition to capital punishment, stating he is 'more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level.' However, this action does not apply to the over 2,000 individuals sentenced to death by state authorities.
Biden’s decision comes ahead of the anticipated return of President-elect Donald Trump in January. During his previous term, Trump reinstated federal executions after a nearly two-decade hiatus."
Biden Grants 39 Pardons and Commutes 1,500 Sentences
President Joe Biden has issued 39 presidential pardons and commuted the sentences of 1,500 federal inmates, a significant clemency decision that includes individuals convicted of serious crimes.
Among those granted clemency are nine individuals convicted of murdering fellow inmates, four who committed murders during bank robberies, and one who killed a prison guard. Disgraced former New Orleans police officer Len Davis, who ran a drug ring involving other officers and orchestrated a woman's murder, is also among those shown leniency.
Despite these acts of clemency, three high-profile inmates remain on federal death row: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the 2013 Boston Marathon bomber; Dylann Roof, a white supremacist who killed nine Black churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015; and Robert Bowers, who murdered 11 Jewish worshippers during a 2018 mass shooting at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue.
Biden reaffirmed his opposition to capital punishment in a statement, declaring:"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."
Since taking office, Biden has campaigned as an opponent of the death penalty. Under his administration, the Justice Department issued a moratorium on federal executions. However, his clemency actions do not affect over 2,250 people sentenced to death by state courts. During Biden's presidency, more than 70 state executions have been carried out, though 23 states have abolished the death penalty, and six others have moratoriums in place.
Biden’s clemency decisions come ahead of former President Donald Trump’s potential return to office. Trump, during his first term, oversaw 13 federal executions in the final six months of his presidency, marking the resumption of federal capital punishment after a 17-year pause. Trump has pledged to expand the death penalty for crimes like human and drug trafficking, as well as murders committed by undocumented immigrants.
In his statement, Biden indirectly referenced Trump’s stance, saying:"I could not, in good conscience, stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted."
Under U.S. law, a president's clemency decisions cannot be reversed by a successor.
Separately, Biden also pardoned 39 individuals convicted of nonviolent offenses earlier this month, including his son, Hunter Biden. Hunter had pleaded guilty to tax charges and was convicted of being an illegal drug user in possession of a firearm, making him the first child of a sitting president to be convicted of a crime.
The U.S. Constitution grants presidents the authority to issue clemency for federal offenses, except in cases of impeachment.
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