WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 24: U.S. President Joe Biden concludes his address to the nation from the Oval Office of the White House on July 24, 2024 in Washington, DC. The president addressed reasons for abruptly ending his run for a second term after initially rejecting calls from some top Democrats to do so, and outlined what he hopes to accomplish in his remaining months in office. (Photo by Evan Vucci-Pool/Getty Images)
President Joe Biden announced that he would remove 37 people from federal death row, leaving only three federal prisoners awaiting their execution.
“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 revealed in a statement released on Dec. 23.
He did not commute the sentences of three people whose crimes included mass shootings or acts of terrorism.
The three are Dzhokhar Tsarneav, one of two brothers responsible for the deadly Boston Marathon bombing back in 2013; Dylann Roof, a white nationalist who killed nine people at a historically black church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015; and Robert Bowers, who killed 11 worshippers at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue in 2018.
“These commutations are consistent with the moratorium my Administration has imposed on federal executions, in cases other than terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder,” he added, alluding to his Justice Department’s halt on federal executions.
Most of the 37 individuals were convicted for less high-profile offenses like murders connected to drug trafficking or the killings of prison guards or other inmates.
“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,” the president mentioned in his statement.
“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,” he concluded. “In good conscience, I cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted.”
The move occurs as opponents of the death penalty are preparing for President-elect Donald Trump‘s return to the White House.
During the 2024 campaign, the president-elect suggested that he would restart federal executions and work to grow the pool of crimes eligible for capital punishment under federal law, which usually allows for the death penalty in cases of murder, espionage and treason.
Earlier this month, he issued a pardon for his son, Hunter Biden, for his federal gun and tax charges.
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