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President Biden has taken decisive action in his final month in office, commuting the death sentences of 37 federal inmates to life imprisonment without parole. This sweeping decision affects individuals convicted of various serious crimes, including murders of law enforcement officers, killings during bank robberies, drug-related homicides, and deaths within federal facilities.
Three federal inmates remain on death row following Biden’s decision. These include Dylann Roof, convicted of the 2015 racially motivated murder of nine Black churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina, Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, and Robert Bowers, responsible for the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue in 2018.
Biden Just Commuted the Sentences of 37 Federal Death Row Inmates, Including Child Killers and Mass Murderers, and People Are Furious
What Happened?
•On December 23, President Biden commuted the sentences of 37 federal death row inmates, reducing their punishments to life in… pic.twitter.com/o7DMwB7uAJ
— Chase Geiser (@realchasegeiser) December 23, 2024
“I’ve dedicated my career to reducing violent crime and ensuring a fair and effective justice system,” Biden said in a statement. “Today, I am commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 individuals on federal death row to life sentences without the possibility of parole. These commutations are consistent with the moratorium my administration has imposed on federal executions, in cases other than terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder.”
The outgoing president directly challenged his successor’s stance on capital punishment, stating, “In good conscience, I cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted.”
President Biden's decision to commute the sentences of 37 federal death row inmates is not just senseless—it's an outrageous example of this administration's upside down and backwards ideology.
From leaving our borders wide open to enabling cartels and gutting American energy,… pic.twitter.com/EUZ9YFzaul— Congressman Dan Meuser (@RepMeuser) December 23, 2024
President-elect Trump has consistently advocated for expanding capital punishment. During his 2024 campaign announcement, Trump expressed support for applying the death penalty to drug dealers, declaring that those “caught selling drugs to receive the death penalty for their heinous acts.” Throughout his previous presidency, Trump maintained a strong position favoring capital punishment for drug-related crimes and human trafficking.
This action follows recent advocacy from Pope Francis, who earlier in December called for prayers regarding death row inmates in the United States, specifically requesting that their sentences be commuted.
