In a White House press release issued today, President Biden announced that he is commuting the sentence of 37 of 40 individuals on federal death row. These clients will have their sentences reclassified from execution to life without the possibility of parole. President Biden's "actions today will prevent the next Administration from carrying out the execution sentences that would not be handed down under current policy and practice."
Three individuals remain on federal death row: Dylan Roof, sentenced to death for the 2015 slayings of nine Black members of the Mother Emanual AME Church in Charleston, SC; Dzhokhar Tsarnaev; sentenced to death for the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombing; and Robert Bowers, sentenced to death for fatally shooting 11 congregants at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue in 2018.
This historic clemency action builds on the clemency for approximately 1,500 Americans earlier this month, setting a record for commutations by any former president at this point in their first term. President Biden had campaigned in 2020 on abolishing the death penalty, and early in his presidency had imposed a moratorium on federal executions while the Justice Department reviewed the practice. National leaders and organizations across the political and faith spectrums are celebrating President Biden’s death row commutations. See, e.g., here and here. Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley's (D-MA) press release expressed a common sentiment:
There is no action more powerful or righteous than sparing someone’s life, and today President Biden is doing just that. The President’s decision to commute the death sentences of 37 individuals on federal death row is a historic and groundbreaking act of compassion that will save lives, address the deep racial disparities in our criminal legal system, and send a powerful message about redemption, decency, and humanity.
The death penalty is a racist, flawed, and fundamentally unjust punishment that has no place in any society. For far too long, it has been disproportionately weaponized against Black and brown communities, exacerbated systemic inequities, and failed to make America any safer—which is why we’ve urged the president for years to work with us to abolish the federal death penalty. By taking this historic action, President Biden is demonstrating the type of moral leadership this moment demands.
This victory belongs to the organizers, advocates, and impacted families from every walk of life who work relentlessly to end the death penalty, and everyone who has worked with us to press for a more just criminal legal system. It is their unwavering commitment to the dignity and humanity of every person that has made this moment possible.
The Death Penalty Information Center reports that death sentences and executions remain near historic lows amid growing conerns about fairness and innocence.