Chicago – December 24, 2024
President Joe Biden has commuted the sentences of nearly all federal death row inmates, changing them to life in prison without parole. This decision, announced Monday morning, affected 37 of the 40 individuals on federal death row and has stirred strong reactions from both supporters and critics.
A spokesperson for President-elect Donald Trump, along with several congressional Republicans and even a House Democrat, criticized Biden’s move, saying it undermines the decisions of courts and juries. Some anti-death penalty activists also expressed disappointment, arguing that Biden should have included all death row inmates in the commutations.
The Rev. Sharon Risher, whose mother and two cousins were killed in the 2015 Mother Emanuel Church shooting in Charleston, South Carolina, voiced concern. She urged Biden to commute the sentence of Dylann Roof, the shooter in that case, stating, “Politics has gotten in the way of mercy.”
Supporters of the decision praised Biden for moral leadership and progress on his campaign promise to end the federal death penalty. Biden said he could not “in good conscience” allow the scheduled executions to proceed.
