What happened
President Joe Biden commuted the sentences of 37 of 40 prisoners on federal death row Monday, downgrading their punishment to life in prison without possibility of parole.
He left intact the death sentences of the men convicted of “terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder” in the 2015 Charleston church shooting, 2013 Boston Marathon bombing and 2018 massacre at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue.
Who said what
“I condemn these murderers” and “ache” for the families of their victims, but “I am more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level,” Biden said. “In good conscience, I cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted.”
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Biden pledged to end federal capital punishment during his 2020 run and imposed a moratorium on most federal executions once in office, but he was a “strong proponent of the death penalty” for “much of his political career,” The Washington Post said. “Nearly all of those who were on death row were there” because of Biden’s 1994 crime bill.
The commutations elicited a “range of emotions,” from “relief to anger,” The Associated Press said, depending largely on party affiliation and views on capital punishment.
What next?
Donald Trump, who oversaw 13 executions in his final six months in office — versus three from 1976 to 2019 — has pledged to restart and expand the death penalty in January.
