As President Biden’s term comes to an end, he is reportedly considering commuting the sentences of most, if not all, of the 40 men sentenced to death by the federal government.
The Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar with the matter, reported that the movement would thwart President-elect Trump’s plan to streamline executions when he takes office in January.
Attorney General Merrick Garland, who oversees federal prisons, recommended that Biden commute all but a handful of egregious sentences, the sources said.
The outlet reported that possible exceptions could include Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the 2013 Boston Marathon bomber who killed three and injured more than 250; Robert Bowers, who killed 11 people in the 2018 attack on the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh; and Dylann Roof, who in 2015 killed nine people at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina.
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President Biden speaks about his administration’s economic playbook and the future of the U.S. economy at the Brookings Institution in Washington on December 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Among those who could have their death sentences commuted to life in prison are a former Marine who killed two girls and then a naval officer, a Las Vegas man convicted of kidnapping and killing a 12-year-old girl, a Chicago podiatrist who shot and killed a patient to prevent her from testifying in a Medicare fraud investigation and two men convicted of a kidnapping-for-ransom plot that resulted in the murders of five Russian and Georgian immigrants.
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The move came after Biden, a lifelong Catholic, spoke with Pope Francis on Thursday. In his weekly prayer, Pope Francis called for the commutation of sentences for convicted prisoners in the United States.
Some sources said the president’s decision could come before Christmas. The media pointed out that the most important question is the scope of the commutation of those sentenced to death.
President Biden speaks at a podium (AP)
Biden is the first president to openly oppose capital punishment, and his 2020 campaign website stated that he would “work to pass legislation to eliminate the death penalty at the federal level and encourage states to follow the government’s lead.” federal”.
In January 2021, Biden initially considered an executive order, sources familiar with the matter told The Associated Press, but the White House did not issue one.
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Six months into the administration, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced a moratorium on federal capital punishment to further study it. The limited action has meant there have been no federal executions under the Biden administration.
