President Biden commutes sentences of most federal death row inmates
WASHINGTON − President Joe Biden said he was commuting the sentences of nearly every inmate on federal death row, a move meant to stop President-elect Donald Trump from restarting stalled executions
"In good conscience, I cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted," Biden said in a statement Monday.
The move reduces the sentences of 37 of 40 federal death row prisoners, in keeping with a moratorium his administration imposed on executions. The 37 now face sentences of life without parole. The moratorium excludes people convicted of terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder.
The list of commutations released by the White House does not include Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was convicted in the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013 that killed three people and injured more than 260, or Robert Bowers, who was convicted in the 2018 Tree of Life synagogue mass shooting in Pittsburgh that killed 11 people.
Biden also declined to commute the sentence of Dylann Roof, who was convicted in the mass shooting in Charleston, South Carolina, at Mother Emanuel, an African American church, in 2015. Nine people were killed.
Among the death row prisoners who had their sentences commuted and will now face life in prison: Thomas Steven Sanders, sentenced to death for the kidnapping and murder of a 12-year-old girl in Louisiana; Len Davis, a former police officer sentenced to death for ordering the killing of a woman after she filed a complaint against him at the New Orleans Police Department; and Richard Allen Jackson, who was convicted of the kidnapping, rape and murder of a 22-year-old jogger in Asheville, North Carolina.
Biden had pledged to end the death penalty during his presidential campaign and had been under pressure from progressive lawmakers and criminal justice activists to commute the sentences of federal death row inmates before Trump takes office.
"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," Biden said in a statement.
But, he said, "I am more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level."
Trump has said he would seek to expand the death penalty in his second term. In Trump's first term at the White House, his administration carried out 13 federal executions, ending a 17-year hiatus.
All but three of the 16 people who have been executed for federal crimes since 1988 were put to death during Trump's term in office. No prisoners on federal death row were executed during Biden's presidency or vice presidency.
A spokesman for Trump criticized the commutations in a Monday afternoon statement.
"These are among the worst killers in the world and this abhorrent decision by Joe Biden is a slap in the face to the victims, their families, and their loved ones," Trump communications director Steven Cheung said. "President Trump stands for the rule of law, which will return when he is back in the White House after he was elected with a massive mandate from the American people."
Biden's commutations met with mixed reaction
Pope Francis had publicly urged Biden, who is Catholic, to stop the executions. Biden and Francis spoke by phone last week.
After the White House's announcement, advocates and lawmakers who had pleaded with Biden not to execute death row inmates praised the commutations.
Patrick Gaspard, president and CEO of the liberal Center for American Progress, said Biden had "cemented his legacy as a champion for mercy, compassion and justice for all."
Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., who is among more than five dozen Democratic lawmakers who urged Biden to use his clemency power on his way out, said Biden's decision would "save lives, address the deep racial disparities in our criminal legal system, and send a powerful message about redemption, decency, and humanity."
“The death penalty is a racist, flawed, and fundamentally unjust punishment that has no place in any society," she said.
According to the Legal Defense Fund, as of January of 2024, roughly 40% of the inmates on death row in the United States were Black, 42% were white and 14% were Hispanic. Another 3% were Asian or Native American.
Republicans in Congress blasted Biden for the move.
A "horrific betrayal of justice," Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas, said in an X post.
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., called the decision "horrifying." He detailed several of the inmates' crimes in a string of posts and said: "Their victims deserve better, and justice demands more."
The commutations were "senseless" and an "outrageous example of this administration's upside down and backwards ideology," added Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Pa.
Biden has vigorously exercised his clemency powers as he prepares to exit office. He commuted the sentences of nearly 1,500 people who had been on home confinement since the COVID-19 pandemic earlier in the month in what the White House called "the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history."
Biden also pardoned 39 people who were convicted of nonviolent crimes. He issued a sweeping pardon to his son Hunter Biden in early December for charges that included gun and tax offenses.
Trump also made use of his clemency power near the end of his presidency. He issued 74 pardons and 70 commutations on his last full day in office.
Contributing: Joey Garrison
(This story was updated to add a video and additional information.)