#POTUS #Biden on Monday commuted the sentences of nearly all prisoners on federal #DeathRow, sparing the lives of 37 men just a month before #Trump will return to the Oval Office w/a promise to restart federal #executions.

Those affected by #Biden’s action, all of whom were convicted of murder, will serve life imprisonment w/o the possibility of parole instead of facing #execution. Only 3 men, who each carried out notorious mass killings, will remain on federal death row.

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#Biden said the commutations were consistent w/the standard he has imposed for halting executions “in cases other than terrorism & hate-motivated mass murder.”

“Make no mistake: I condemn these murderers, grieve for the victims of their despicable acts, & ache for all the families who have suffered unimaginable & irreparable loss,” Biden said.

#DeathPenalty #execution #law

The WH released statements of support from faith leaders, #CivilRights groups & #law enforcement ofcls, as well as from friends & family members of those killed by men on death row.
“Putting to death the person who killed my police partner & best friend would have brought me no peace,” said Donnie Oliverio, a retired police officer, who alluded to #Biden’s being Catholic. “The president has done what is right here, & what is consistent with the faith he & I share.”

#DeathPenalty #execution #law

Oliverio’s partner, Bryan S. Hurst, was shot & killed while on duty by Daryl Lawrence during an attempted bank robbery in Columbus, Ohio. Lawrence was sentenced to death in 2006.

Of the 37 men whose sentences were commuted, 15 are white, 15 are Black, 6 are Latino & one is Asian. They were sentenced in 16 states, including three that have abolished the death penalty. 9 are on #DeathRow because they were convicted of killing fellow federal prisoners.

#DeathPenalty #execution #law

The three men who can still face federal #execution are Robert D. Bowers, 52, who in 2018 gunned down 11 worshipers at the #TreeOfLifeSynagogue in Pittsburgh; Dylann Roof, 30, the white supremacist who in 2015 opened fire on Black parishioners at #MotherEmanuel Church in Charleston, SC, killing 9 people; & Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 31, one of the two brothers who carried out the #BostonMarathonBombing in 2013 that killed three & maimed more than a dozen others.

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#Trump supports the #DeathPenalty, & during his 2024 presidential campaign he called for an expansion, suggesting that “drug dealers & human traffickers” & child sex abusers should be put to death. During his first term, Trump restarted federal #executions after a nearly 20-year pause; all 13 were carried out in the final six months of his administration. He has not said how he will expand the death penalty to new federal crimes.

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… #Biden has faced pressure from #Democrats to use his #pardon powers more sweepingly while he can. Monday’s act of clemency comes after he issued 1,500 commutations for those who have been in home confinement since the pandemic, a record number for a single day. Biden has already issued blanket pardons, including for thousands of people convicted of federal possession of #marijuana & veterans convicted of engaging in #gay sex while serving in the #military.…

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#Democrats are still pushing #Biden in his final days to issue more acts of forgiveness for those behind bars under outdated laws that contributed to disparities in drug sentencing & the mass incarceration of #Black Americans. >60 Democrats, including close allies, signed a letter last month urging him to help the thousands of people whose sentences would be effected if some of the provisions in #Trump’s First Step Act were applied retroactively.

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#POTUS has also faced pressure to help those imprisoned for crimes associated w/crack cocaine who would be free if the drug had been powder cocaine. As a senator, Biden worked on the 1986 legislation that imposed those sentencing disparities. He has since expressed regret for his role.

Rep #AyannaPressley, Democrat of MA, said in an interview this month that choosing not to take action on clemency would pose a political risk for Democrats.

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“The Democrats on more than one occasion have tried to make the case that we’re the adults in the room, but the American people don’t always think we’re the fighters in the room,” Rep #AyannaPressley said. “And that’s often because we have the power but don’t use it. Scared power is no power at all. And President #Biden has the power.”

#law #clemency #PardonPower #DeathPenalty