Biden commutes most US federal death sentences before Trump’s return

US President Joe Biden on Monday commuted the sentences of 37 out of 40 federal inmates on death row, converting their punishments to life imprisonment weeks before he hands over power to President-elect Donald Trump, a proponent of the death penalty.

Biden’s decision follows pressure from congressional Democrats, anti-capital punishment activists and religious leaders including Pope Francis due to concerns over the incoming Trump administration’s stance on executions.

Trump restarted federal executions during his first term in office from 2017 to 2021, after a pause of nearly two decades. Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign opposed the death penalty, and his administration suspended federal executions after he took office in 2021.

“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,” Biden said in a statement.

“But guided by my conscience and my experience … I am more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level.”

In a political jab at Trump, Biden said: “In good conscience, I cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted.”

Trump, who takes office on 20 January, has spoken frequently of expanding executions.

In a speech announcing his 2024 campaign, Trump called for those “caught selling drugs to receive the death penalty for their heinous acts”. He later promised to execute drug and human smugglers.

There were 13 federal executions during Trump’s first term, more than the last 10 US presidents combined.

Three still on death row

Biden’s decision does not apply to cases of terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder, which leaves three federal inmates still facing execution.

They are Dylann Roof, who carried out the 2015 racist killings of nine black members of Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, the 2013 Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, and Robert Bowers, who fatally shot 11 congregants at Pittsburgh’s Tree of life Synagogue in 2018, the deadliest antisemitic attack in US history.

The three inmates have filed legal appeals and challenges, which must be resolved before a date can be set for their executions, a process that can take several years.

The commutation announcement does not cover the nearly 2,200 death row prisoners convicted in US state courts, as Biden has no authority over those executions.

Earlier this month, Biden commuted the sentences of about 1,500 people who were released from prison and placed on home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic and of 39 others convicted of non-violent crimes, the largest single-day act of clemency in modern US history.

The announcement also follows the post-election pardon that Biden granted his son Hunter on federal gun and tax charges after long saying he would not issue one, sparking an uproar in Washington.