President Joe Biden announced his latest clemency grants on Monday, commuting the death sentences of most of the 40 inmates on federal death row. Biden’s decision will leave over three dozen federal inmates imprisoned, but prevent them from being executed. Biden did not commute the sentences of the Boston Marathon bomber or the perpetrator of two racist mass shootings, leaving these three men on death row.
37 people spared execution while 3 mass killers remain on death row
On Monday, Biden released a statement, announcing, “Today, I am commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 individuals on federal death row to life sentences without the possibility of parole.” Biden noted in his statement that he condemns the acts of murder for which all of these federal inmates have been convicted. “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,” the president said. Nevertheless, Biden argued that “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.”
I am commuting the sentences of 37 individuals on federal death row to life sentences without the possibility of parole.
This action is consistent with my Administration's moratorium on federal executions, except for cases involving terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder. pic.twitter.com/Obxfytxxbb
— President Biden (@POTUS) December 23, 2024
In justifying the commutations, the White House cited support from civil rights groups, religious leaders, and relatives and friends of victims of the people on federal death row. For example, retired police officer Donnie Oliverio said of the president’s decision that “putting to death the person who killed my police partner and best friend would have brought me no peace,” per The Washington Post. Biden noted in his statement that he was granting commutations “in cases other than terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder,” a decision that leaves intact the death sentences of three federal inmates. These include Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who carried out the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing along with his older brother who was later killed in a shootout with police. Also remaining on death row are two men who committed racially motivated mass shootings: Dylann Roof, who in 2015 killed nine Black Bible study attendees at the Emmanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, and Robert Bowers, who shot to death 11 people attending service at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018.
Biden continues expansive use of clemency on eve of new Trump administration
The move by Biden comes as a big win for death penalty opponents. Biden himself promised to abolish the federal death penalty during his 2020 campaign. Once in office, he backed away from either issuing an executive order or pushing Congress to pass legislation to end the federal death penalty, though his administration did issue a moratorium that halted federal executions during his presidency. The Monday commutations also represent the latest example of Biden using the presidential power of commutation in unprecedented ways in the last few weeks. Biden began December by issuing a full pardon of his son Hunter, who had been convicted of gun and tax evasion charges. Biden later broke a single-day record by issuing nearly 1,500 commutations and pardons for a variety of federal convictions.
Along with other moves, such as stepping up the appointment of federal judges, this latest set of commutations by Biden appears to be one of a variety of apparent safeguards being put in place by the Biden administration ahead of the beginning of the next Trump administration. During his first term in office, Trump became the first president in 17 years to carry out federal executions; 13 federal inmates were put to death during his presidency, the most federal executions for one president in over 100 years. Trump has pledged to expand the use of the death penalty under his upcoming term to include offenses such as sex crimes against children and drug and human trafficking.
While Trump may pursue an expanded application of the federal death penalty once he takes office, Biden’s commutations mean that the 37 people granted clemency on Monday will be spared the death penalty for the crimes that have placed them behind bars for the rest of their lives. And given Biden’s actions in recent weeks, these might not be the last clemency decisions that he issues before leaving office next month.
