Biden commutes most federal death sentences to life imprisonment
by Rob Beschizza · Boing BoingPresident Biden today commutes the sentences of 37 of the 40 inmates on the federal government's death row. They will all spend the rest of their lives in jail instead. His administration having learned its lesson about not looking at the details of those being given leniency, the worst of them won't be getting off: Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, racist mass-murderer Dylan Roof and Tree of Life synagogue shooter Robert Bowers are all still getting chaired.
"Make no mistake: I condemn these murderers, grieve for the victims of their despicable acts, and ache for all the families who have suffered unimaginable and irreparable loss," Biden said in a statement released on Monday. "But guided by my conscience and my experience as a public defender, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, vice-president, and now President, I am more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level. In good conscience, I cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted."
He's atoning for the 1994 crime bill; many of those on federal death row are there because of it. President Trump made a show of executing as many of them as possible; this leaves his next administration an indiscriminate terrorist and two Nazis to play with.
But during his 2020 presidential election campaign, Biden reversed his long-held support for capital punishment, pledging to eliminate it at the federal level. He cited concerns about wrongful convictions and racial disparities in the justice system. The Biden administration duly imposed a moratorium on federal executions. The White House said Biden's latest action would prevent the next administration from carrying out the execution sentences that would not be handed down under current policy and practice.