The sentences of almost every inmate on federal death row are being commuted by President Biden, according to a recent announcement from the White House.
The news comes in the wake of the sitting president’s historic clemency, in which he commuted the sentences of nearly 1,500 people and granted pardons for 39 others, as reported earlier this month in The Dallas Express.
In the latest move, Biden is reclassifying 37 death sentences to life without the possibility of parole. The men were all found guilty of committing murderous acts against at least one person, including against law enforcement officers and children.
Only three inmates on federal death row were excluded:
- Robert Bowers: Bowers committed a mass shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in 2018. The shooting left 11 people dead.
- Dylann Roof: The white supremacist who murdered nine Black parishioners at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015.
- Dzhokhar Tsarnaev: During the 2013 Boston Marathon, Dzhokhar, along with his deceased brother, set off a bomb that killed three people and injured hundreds more.
“Today, I am commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 individuals on federal death row to life sentences without the possibility of parole. These commutations are consistent with the moratorium my Administration has imposed on federal executions, in cases other than terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder,” read a December 23 statement from President Biden.
Biden’s move comes weeks before President-elect Trump is set to take office. When Biden leaves the White House, his moratorium on death sentences will not automatically carry over to the new Administration, paving the way for Trump to reinstate them.
“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,” the White House statement continued.
Inmates who will no longer face execution include Thomas Sanders, who kidnapped and murdered a 12-year-old girl, and Jorge Torrez, an ex-marine who killed another service member.