On Monday, President Joe Biden announced the commutation of sentences for 37 individuals on federal death row, reducing their penalties to life imprisonment without parole. This historic move, made just weeks before President-elect Donald Trump assumes office, leaves only three federal prisoners awaiting execution.
Commutations and Exceptions
The president’s decision did not extend to three individuals convicted of high-profile terrorism or hate-motivated mass murder cases:
- Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, responsible for the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing.
- Dylann Roof, who killed nine people in a Charleston, South Carolina, church in 2015.
- Robert Bowers, who murdered 11 worshippers at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue in 2018.
“These commutations align with the moratorium on federal executions imposed by my administration, except in cases involving terrorism and hate-motivated mass murders,” Biden stated.
The majority of the 37 commuted sentences involve individuals convicted of drug-related murders or killings of inmates and prison staff.
Biden’s Stance on the Death Penalty
President Biden emphasized his personal opposition to capital punishment, saying:
“I condemn these murderers and grieve for their victims. But guided by my conscience and experience, I cannot stand by as executions resume under a new administration.”
During his 2020 presidential campaign, Biden pledged to end the federal death penalty and imposed a moratorium early in his presidency. Under Attorney General Merrick Garland, the Justice Department has not sought the death penalty in new cases, although it continues to defend prior sentences, including those of Tsarnaev and Roof.
Fears of Executions Under Trump
With Donald Trump set to assume the presidency in January, opponents of the death penalty fear a resurgence of federal executions. Trump’s previous administration saw 13 federal executions during its final months, ending a 17-year hiatus. Trump has indicated plans to expand the scope of the death penalty to include crimes like human trafficking, drug offenses, and killings of law enforcement officers or American citizens by migrants.
A Call for Racial Justice
Civil rights organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), lauded Biden’s commutations as a step toward addressing systemic racism and injustices in the federal death penalty system. ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero stated:
“President Biden has the opportunity to make history by dismantling the racist and unjust federal death penalty system.”
Implications for State-Level Death Penalty Cases
Biden’s commutations apply only to the federal system, which houses a small fraction of the more than 2,000 individuals on death row in the U.S. State-level death penalties remain outside the president’s jurisdiction.
President Biden’s decision underscores his administration’s commitment to halting federal executions and addressing systemic injustices within the criminal justice system. However, with Trump’s return to office imminent, this temporary reprieve may face significant challenges in the near future.
