Joe Biden, the outgoing President of the United States, has commuted the death sentences of 37 federal death row inmates to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. The move has elicited criticism from President-elect Donald Trump, who has pledged to reinstate capital punishment when he assumes office next month.
Trump took to Truth Social to express his disapproval, writing, “Joe Biden just commuted the Death Sentence on 37 of the worst killers in our Country. When you hear the acts of each, you won’t believe that he did this. Makes no sense. Relatives and friends are further devastated. They can’t believe this is happening.”
With Biden’s historic clemency decision, only three federal death row inmates – Dylann Roof, Robert Bowers, and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, all convicted of terrorism or hate-motivated mass murder – remain. The move comes weeks before Biden’s term ends, seemingly to forestall Trump’s potential reinstatement of federal executions.
Biden justified his decision, stating, “In good conscience, I cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted. 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.”
Trump responded with a vow to implement capital punishment once he returns to office. “As soon as I am inaugurated, I will direct the Justice Department to vigorously pursue the death penalty to protect American families and children from violent rapists, murderers, and monsters,” Trump announced. “We will be a Nation of Law and Order again!”
Victims’ families have had varied reactions to Biden’s decision. Heather Turner, whose mother was murdered during a 2017 bank robbery in South Carolina, voiced her disapproval on Facebook. On the other hand, retired Ohio policeman Donnie Oliverio, whose partner was killed by one of the inmates granted clemency, expressed support for the President’s decision.
Human rights organizations have welcomed Biden’s decision to commute the death sentences. Paul O’Brien, the Executive Director of Amnesty International USA, called the move a significant moment for human rights, labeling the death penalty as the ultimate cruel and degrading punishment.
Meanwhile, Trump’s spokesperson, Steven Cheung, decried the commutations, categorizing the inmates as “among the worst killers in the world” and describing Biden’s decision as a “slap in the face to the victims, their families, and their loved ones.”
The commutations came on the heels of Biden’s recent grant of approximately 1,500 pardons and commutations to Americans convicted of nonviolent crimes, representing the largest single-day act of clemency in modern U.S. history. Trump, during his presidency, oversaw 13 federal executions, the most in recent times, after resuming federal executions following a 17-year pause.
