US President Joe Biden converted the sentences of 37 of 40 federal death row inmates to life imprisonment on Monday, just a week before President-elect Donald Trump, an outspoken proponent of expanding capital punishment, takes office.
Biden’s decision spares the lives of people convicted in killings, including the murder of police officers and military personnel, people on federal land, and those involved in deadly bank robberies or drug deals, as well as the killings of guards or prisoners in federal facilities, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
The move means that just three federal inmates are still facing the death sentence. Namely; Dylann Roof, the man who killed nine Black members of Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015; the 2013 Boston Marathon bomber, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev; and Robert Bowers, who fatally shot 11 congregants at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue in 2018.
“I’ve dedicated my career to reducing violent crime and ensuring a fair and effective justice system,” Biden said in a statement.
“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,” Biden concluded.