Biden Commutes Death Sentences for 37 Federal Inmates, Reshaping Federal Clemency Practices
President Joe Biden will commute the death sentences of 37 federal prisoners on Monday, effectively reducing their sentences to life imprisonment without parole, Bloomberg reports.
This action dramatically shrinks the federal death row population to just three inmates, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
The three individuals exempted from the commutations are those convicted in some of the nation’s most horrific mass violence incidents: Robert Bowers, responsible for the 2018 Tree of Life Synagogue massacre in Pittsburgh; Dylann Roof, convicted in the 2015 Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church shooting in Charleston, South Carolina; and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who participated in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing.
The White House explained in a statement that President Biden “believes that America must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level, except in cases of terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder – which is why today’s actions apply to all but those cases.” This action marks a historic moment, with Biden sparing more federal inmates from execution than any president since Woodrow Wilson more than a century ago.
The move is already stirring controversy. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell criticized the commutations, stating they show that “progressive politics is more important to the president than the lives taken by these murderers.”
The inmates affected by the commutations represent a diverse cross-section of the federal prison population. Of the 40 men on federal death row in Terre Haute, Indiana, 18 are White, 15 are Black, six are Latino, and one is Asian. Notably, at least nine of those spared were already incarcerated when they committed the crimes leading to their death sentences—killing a fellow inmate or a guard.
This action represents a significant reversal for President Biden, who, as a senator, was a key architect of the 1994 crime bill that expanded the federal death penalty. He famously remarked at the time, “We do everything but hang people for jaywalking.” However, his views have seemingly evolved since then. By his 2020 presidential campaign, he promised to support legislation to eliminate the death penalty, a bill that never made it to his desk.
Public opinion on the death penalty has also changed. Support for capital punishment reached a high of 80% in the same month President Bill Clinton signed Biden’s 1994 crime bill into law. According to Gallup, that support is now just 53%.
The commutation comes after intense lobbying from death penalty abolitionists, who urged Biden to act before Donald Trump’s potential return to office. Trump oversaw 13 executions in the last six months of his presidency, the most since the Supreme Court reaffirmed the use of the penalty in 1976.
Biden’s actions have been compounded by his recent pardon of his son, Hunter Biden, for all federal crimes, both charged and uncharged, between 2014 and 2024. This move has sparked controversy due to its broad scope and the president’s prior denials that he would use his powers to help his son.
In addition to these moves, the President has also shortened the sentences of 1,499 federal convicts serving home incarceration, including several individuals involved in public corruption cases. Among those included was former Dixon, Illinois, comptroller Rita Crundwell, convicted of embezzling more than $53 million.
The White House has indicated that Biden is not finished utilizing his clemency powers, hinting at “additional steps to provide meaningful second chances” before his term ends.
The US Constitution grants the President broad powers to grant reprieves and pardons for federal offenses, with the only exceptions being impeachments and state crimes.
Prior to this month, Biden was on track to use presidential clemency more sparingly than any president since John Adams. However, including his categorical pardons for marijuana offenses, Biden has now granted more clemency than Barack Obama and could potentially surpass Harry Truman.
