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Civil rights groups anxiously prepared to begin Donald TrumpThe presidency breathed a sigh of relief on Monday Joe Biden he announced the largest one-day commutation federal sentenced to death prisoners in modern history.
The White House announced early Monday morning that the president will commute the sentences of 37 inmates awaiting execution in the federal prison system. Now only three people will remain on death row after the swap: mass murderers Dylann Roof, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Robert Bowers.
Much of Washington is now deserted, with the Christmas holidays forcing many lawmakers, staff and other federal workers out of town for several weeks. The president’s action Monday followed a weeks-long advocacy campaign by the ACLU and other death penalty opponents urging Biden in that direction, which enlisted the help of both of the president’s allies on Capitol Hill, actors such as Martin Sheen (known for its West wing portrait of President Jed Bartlett), as well as business leaders, incl Richard Branson and Sheryl Sandberg.
The biggest name to support the effort was Pope Francis, who noted the problem during his daily address in St. Peter’s Square.
Monday’s announcement also followed a move by Biden earlier this month to commute the sentences of hundreds of federal inmates who had previously been transferred to house arrest. Similar to his latest decision, the commutation of 1,500 Americans was the largest single-day pardon by a US president in modern times.
His Democratic base is likely to welcome the president’s commutation of death sentences, as opposed to the Dec. 12 clemency announcement that included, among others, a former federal judge convicted of sending children to for-profit prisons in exchange for bribes. The “Kids For Cash” scandal is considered one of the worst black marks on the American judiciary in its history.
The news that Michael Conahan would be among those granted a pardon earlier this month sparked outrage from many in his home state of Pennsylvania, including its Democratic governor, Josh Shapiro, who was seen as the runner-up to running mate Kamala Harris in the 2024 election. .
By comparison, while MAGA loyalists such as Senator-elect Jim Banks they announced themselves about biden’s order on monday, statements of approval came with relief from top democrats on the hill who have supported the “swap fights” campaign and others.
“By commuting the sentences of 37 people on death row, President Biden took the most significant step by any president in our history to address the immoral and unconstitutional harms of the death penalty,” said Anthony Romero, ACLU Executive Director.
Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, was one of the Democrats on Biden’s case around death penalty commutation. Durbin was one of the Democrats to offer at least a half-hearted defense of the president’s decision to pardon his son Hunter Biden, who was awaiting sentencing on tax and gun charges. Biden has specifically vowed not to pardon his son, something he and his aides, such as press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, have repeated several times during the 2024 election.
“Thank you @POTUS Biden for answering this call to action to address the long-standing injustices facing our legal system,” Rep. Adriano Espaillat wrote. “Today’s action represents a fundamental principle of humanity and upholds the moral integrity of our nation’s justice system.”
Richard Branson tweeted: “Commuting these federal death sentences sends an important signal that there are alternatives to state-sanctioned killing. By advocating forgiveness and mercy, President Biden has come down on the right side of history.”
“The death penalty has been violated. It is inhumane and unfair. It is expensive and wasteful. And that doesn’t bring justice or make communities safer.”
Civil rights groups feared a return to the accelerated pace of executions during Trump’s first term when the president-elect takes office in January. Federal executions were completely suspended before Trump took office, but by the end of his four years in office, Donald Trump had overseen more executions than any US president in 100 years. All 13 executions took place during Trump’s last year in office.
Trump himself remains very open about his desire to expand the use of the death penalty beyond the standard established by the Supreme Court Coker vs Georgia. Trump has said he would expand the use of the death penalty to those convicted of drug trafficking, possibly including low-level dealers. This would require a major change in legal precedent by the nation’s highest court.
“These are terrible, terrible, terrible people who are responsible for death, carnage and crime across the country,” Trump said in 2022. “We will ask that everyone who deals drugs, get caught, get the death penalty for their heinous acts.”