President Joe Biden announced on Monday that he is commuting the sentences of 37 out of the 40 people on federal death row, converting their punishments to life imprisonment. This decision comes weeks before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. The commutations affect individuals convicted of various crimes, including killings of police and military officers, people on federal land, and those involved in bank robberies or drug deals.
FILE - President Joe Biden speaks during a Hanukkah reception in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024.
I've dedicated my career to reducing violent crime and ensuring a fair and effective justice system," Biden said in a statement. "Today, I am commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 individuals on federal death row to life sentences without the possibility of parole. These commutations are consistent with the moratorium my administration has imposed on federal executions, in cases other than terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder.
Similar language didn't appear on Biden's reelection website before he left the presidential race in July. Indeed, Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, 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 and even praised China's harsher treatment of drug peddlers. During his first term as president, Trump also advocated for the death penalty for drug dealers.
Biden faced recent pressure from advocacy groups urging him to act to make it more difficult for Trump to increase the use of capital punishment for federal inmates. The president's announcement also comes less than two weeks after he commuted the sentences of roughly 1,500 people who were released from prison and placed on home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic, and of 39 others convicted of nonviolent crimes, the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history.
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