In a bold and controversial move, President Joe Biden commuted the sentences of 37 out of 40 federal death row inmates, a decision that drew immediate and fiery backlash from President-elect Donald Trump. The White House’s announcement on Monday marked a significant shift in federal policy, effectively ending capital punishment during Biden’s tenure.
Trump took to his platform, Truth Social, to voice his dismay. “Joe Biden just commuted the Death Sentence on 37 of the worst killers in our Country,” he wrote in a Christmas Eve post. “When you hear the acts of each, you won’t believe that he did this. Makes no sense. Relatives and friends are further devastated. They can’t believe this is happening.”
Trump, who reinstated federal executions during his presidency and oversaw 13 in six months—a modern record—has long championed the death penalty. His spokesperson, Steven Cheung, doubled down, labeling Biden’s action as “a slap in the face to the victims, their families, and their loved ones.”
In a statement accompanying his decision, Biden explained his motivations. “In good conscience, I cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted,” he said.
Biden’s commutations convert the inmates’ sentences to life without parole. However, three inmates were excluded: Dylann Roof, who murdered nine Black churchgoers in South Carolina; Robert Bowers, who killed 11 people in a Pittsburgh synagogue; and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the Boston Marathon bomber.
“The gravity of their crimes and the enduring pain of their victims led me to maintain their sentences,” Biden noted.
The decision has left victims’ families divided. Heather Turner, whose mother was killed during a 2017 bank robbery in South Carolina, criticized Biden’s move as “a gross abuse of power.” She wrote on Facebook, “Joe Biden and his supporters have blood on their hands.”
Conversely, retired Ohio police officer Donnie Oliverio, whose partner was killed by another inmate on death row, offered a different perspective. “Putting to death the person who killed my police partner and best friend would have brought me no peace,” he stated. “The president has done what is right here, and what is consistent with the faith he and I share.”
Human rights organizations celebrated Biden’s decision as a landmark moment.
“The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman, and degrading punishment,” said Paul O’Brien, Amnesty International USA’s Executive Director. “President Biden’s eleventh-hour decision to commute these death sentences is a big moment for human rights.”
Tanya Greene, U.S. Program Director at Human Rights Watch, echoed these sentiments. “This courageous decision recognizes that the death penalty has failed to deter crime, risks executing innocent people, and runs counter to the belief in the dignity of all human life and the possibility of redemption,” she said.
Biden’s commutations come just a week after he granted clemency to 1,500 individuals convicted of nonviolent crimes—the largest single-day act of clemency in modern U.S. history. It also follows his controversial pardon of his son, Hunter Biden, amid ongoing political and legal scrutiny.
Biden’s action appears aimed at preempting Trump’s potential reinstatement of federal executions. Trump’s return to office has already alarmed human rights advocates.
“It is near certain that Donald Trump will restart the federal killing machine where he left off,” warned O’Brien. “We remain deeply concerned about the human rights of those still on federal and military death row.”
The commutation decision underscores the deep divisions in the United States over the death penalty. Biden’s move reflects his long-standing opposition to capital punishment, a stance shaped by his early career as a public defender and later as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
As the nation heads into a new administration, the debate over the death penalty remains as polarizing as ever, with Biden’s legacy on the line and Trump’s hardline policies waiting in the wings.
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Sorry Donald, your blood lust will not be satisfied for now. The death penalty has been abolished in most civilized countries as it is barbaric and it serves no purpose. Back in the old day when people were executed publicly, it may have served as a lesson, but now between the poor performing chemicals and the number of appeals and time, it is expensive and it serves no purpose
You evil Democrats love to protect perverts, junkies, CRIME WAVE, criminals, and murderers!
Democrats love to give murderers a second chance to murder innocent people…