Biden Commutes 37 Death Sentences Before Trump Resumes Executions

Dec 23, 2024, 10:14 AM

President Joe Biden has commuted the sentences of 37 out of 40 federal death row inmates, converting their punishments to life imprisonment without parole. Citing moral and policy objections to capital punishment, Biden announced the clemency mere weeks before President-elect Donald Trump is set to take office. The president stated he cannot let Trump resume executions he halted. The clemency excludes three inmates: Dylann Roof, convicted in the Charleston church shooting; Robert Bowers, convicted in the Tree of Life synagogue shooting; and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, convicted in the Boston Marathon bombing. The move, while significant, falls short of Biden's campaign promise to put an end to the death penalty, as three others remain on federal death row.