President Biden converts majority of federal death penalties

President Joe Biden of the United States has converted the sentences for 37 of the 40 individuals on federal death row, changing their punishment to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. The three individuals not included in this action are the perpetrator of the Boston Marathon bombing and the person responsible for the killing of Jewish worshippers in 2018. In a statement, President Biden stated that he was “more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level”. This action does not encompass over 2,000 individuals sentenced to death by state-level authorities. This decision by Biden precedes the anticipated return of President-elect Donald Trump in January. Trump had reinstated federal executions during his previous term. Individuals granted clemency by President Biden include nine individuals found guilty of murdering other inmates, four for homicides carried out during bank robberies, and one who killed a correctional officer. “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,” President Biden further stated. Len Davis, a former New Orleans police officer who was disgraced and ran a drug operation with other officers while orchestrating a woman’s murder, is also among those receiving clemency. Billie Allen, who had spent 27 years on federal death row, expressed “great relief” following the commutation of his sentence by President Biden. Allen received a conviction for the murder of a security guard during a 1997 bank robbery in Missouri. He has consistently asserted his innocence. From Terra Haute prison in Indiana, Allen informed the BBC’s Radio 4 World Tonight programme that prisoners were “excited they were no longer facing death” upon learning of the ruling. “You have to realise that when you are facing death every day, to have that burden off you, it’s a great relief.” When questioned regarding the indignation of certain victims’ families concerning the decision, Allen responded: “I understand that for some people the death penalty is justice… but these guys in here some said that they were going to use this opportunity to do better, to be better – so maybe they can take some solace in that.” Heather Turner, whose mother Donna Major was fatally shot during a bank robbery in South Carolina in 2017, expressed feeling “hurt” and “very frustrated” that the perpetrator’s death sentence had been commuted. Turner conveyed to BBC’s World Tonight: “I feel that this decision comes without regard to the victims and their families.” “To make this decision, especially at Christmas, it is gut-wrenching.” “Justice is not only doing right. It is also handing out the right consequences. And I believe the consequence for murder is death,” Turner stated, further noting her belief that Biden’s decision was “politically motivated”. The three prisoners who will remain on death row are Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, involved in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, and Dylann Roof, an admitted white supremacist who murdered nine Black churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina in 2015. Robert Bowers, responsible for the deaths of 11 Jewish worshippers in a 2018 mass shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, is also to stay on death row. Additionally, four other men are still on military death row, which functions under a distinct legal authority. President Biden has consistently advocated against capital punishment, and the Justice Department imposed a suspension on its application at the federal level subsequent to his presidential inauguration. In his initial term as president, Trump presided over 13 executions by lethal injection within his last six months in authority. Prior to Trump’s resumption of federal executions in July 2020, no federal prisoners had been executed in the US since 2003. During his campaign for re-election, Trump signaled an intention to broaden the application of capital punishment to encompass human and drug traffickers, along with migrants responsible for killing American citizens. President Biden seemed to allude to Trump’s stated intentions in his remarks, asserting he could not “in good conscience – stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted”. Under US law, a president’s successor cannot overturn these clemency rulings. The President’s declaration drew criticism from certain Republicans. Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas stated on X, previously known as Twitter, that Democrats “are the party of politically convenient justice” following the public release of the commutation news. “Once again, Democrats side with depraved criminals over their victims, public order, and common decency,” he asserted. President Biden’s ruling will not affect individuals condemned to death in state courts, a group comprising approximately 2,250 inmates, as per the Death Penalty Information Centre. Over 70 state-level executions have occurred throughout Biden’s presidential term. Capital punishment has been eliminated in 23 of the 50 United States. Six additional states, namely Arizona, California, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee, have implemented moratoriums. Earlier in the current month, President Biden commuted the sentences of almost 1,500 individuals and granted pardons to 39 others who had been convicted of non-violent offenses. He additionally pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, who was awaiting sentencing for two criminal proceedings. Hunter Biden had entered a guilty plea to tax charges in September and was convicted in June of being an unlawful drug user possessing a firearm, marking him as the first child of a sitting president to be found guilty of a crime. The Constitution of the United States stipulates that a president possesses the extensive “power to grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the United States, except in cases of impeachment”.