In a significant decision on Monday, President Joe Biden announced the commutation of death sentences for 37 individuals, leaving just three on federal death row. According to the White House, these sentences will be converted to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
Biden emphasized, “These commutations align with the moratorium my administration has placed on federal executions, except in terrorism and hate-driven mass murder cases. Make no mistake: I denounce the actions of these murderers, extend my sympathy to the victims’ families, and mourn the profound loss they have endured.” He continued, drawing on his past experiences, “Guided by my conscience and roles as a public defender, Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, Vice President, and now President, I am more determined than ever to halt the federal death penalty’s use. I cannot, in good faith, allow executions to resume.”
The three men who remain on the federal death row list include Robert Bowers, responsible for the 2018 Tree of Life Synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh; Dylann Roof, who killed nine in a historically Black church in Charleston in 2015; and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, one of the Boston Marathon bombers in 2013.
As a candidate in 2019, Biden strongly advocated for the abolition of the death penalty. Not long after taking office, in 2021, Attorney General Merrick Garland imposed a moratorium on federal executions, and no federal inmates have been executed during Biden’s tenure. Still, this year, the Justice Department announced plans to seek the death penalty for the perpetrator of a racially motivated shooting in Buffalo, New York, in 2022 that left 10 Black individuals dead.
While around half of the U.S. states permit the death penalty, executions have occurred in more than two dozen cases this year based on the Death Penalty Information Center. Nationwide, approximately 2,200 individuals are on death row.
Among those whose sentences Biden will commute is Billie Allen, who maintains his innocence. Allen expressed hope in a recent interview: “I want to believe he’s going to do the right thing. As someone who’s innocent, he should act sooner rather than later.” He felt a sense of dread with Trump’s election, stating he had prepared for the worst.
During the transition to Trump’s administration, inmates at Terre Haute, Indiana, faced taunts and increased execution drills, according to testimony from a death row inmate and two federal defenders. The Federal Bureau of Prisons did not respond to requests for comments on these matters.
On the campaign trail, Trump had pledged to push for death penalties for drug dealers and other offenses. He emphasized, “We’re going to make sure that those selling drugs face the death penalty.”
During Trump’s first term, 13 federal executions occurred in its final months after a nearly two-decade hiatus. Kelley Henry, representing Rejon Taylor—one of those taken off death row—described that period as “brutal,” stating, “It felt like the legal system was on pause.”
Trump’s representative, Karoline Leavitt, confirmed his intentions, asserting that he intends to uphold his campaign promises regarding the death penalty. For such expansions, Trump would require congressional support, potentially igniting legal battles.
In a broader move, Biden recently commuted sentences for nearly 1,500 non-violent offenders and pardoned 39 others, highlighting America’s promise of second chances. He also pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, for federal offenses, an act initially not intended by the President.
NBC News has noted Biden’s consideration of preemptive pardons for individuals potentially targeted by Trump in a possible second term.
The article was reported by Megan Lebowitz and Sarah Dean from Washington, with contributions from Abigail Brooks in New York.
