The outgoing president of United States, Joe Bidenannounced the commutation of the sentences of 37 of the 40 sentenced to death at the federal level, less than a month after the return of Donald Trump to the White House. The beneficiaries will serve life sentences without the possibility of parole, as confirmed by the president in a statement.
Bidena known opponent of the death penalty, reimposed a moratorium on federal executions during his administration, spreviously suspended by Trump.
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However, the clemency measure excluded three emblematic cases: Djokhar Tsarnaev, co-author of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing; Dylann Roof, responsible for the murder of nine black people in a Charleston church in 2015; and Robert Bowers, guilty of killing 11 people in a synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018.
“Make no mistake: I condemn these murderers (…) but I am more convinced than ever that we must end the use of the death penalty at the federal level,” he declared. Biden, emphasizing that the decision is limited to crimes that do not include terrorism or hate-motivated mass murders.
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Decision reactions
The decision was celebrated by human rights groups, which classified it as a historic step. Anthony Romero, director of the ACLU, He stated: “It is the most significant action taken by any president to address the harms of capital punishment.” Martin Luther King III called it a “historic day.”
In contrast, the team of the New York magnate and Republican leaders attacked the measure. Steven Cheung, Trump’s communications director called the action “abhorrent,” while House Speaker Mike Johnson described it as a “slap in the face to the families of the victims.”
In 2024, 25 executions were carried out in the country, all at the state level. The United States still allows the death penalty in 27 states, although six of them apply a moratorium.
Biden used his final months in office to exercise clemency on several fronts. This month, he commuted sentences of about 1,500 people in home confinement due to the coronavirus pandemic Covid-19 and pardoned 39 convicted of non-violent crimes. However, his pardon of his son Hunter on charges of tax evasion and illegal weapons possession generated controversy.
The massive switching, Although hailed by activists, it underscores the division that persists in the country over the use of capital punishment, a practice that the Republican magnate openly defended during his campaign.