WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden’s decision to commute the sentences of nearly all federal death row inmates to life in prison without the chance of parole raises questions about the morality of executing convicted murderers and the justice for victims’ families. sparked a heated debate about what
Biden faced backlash from President-elect Donald Trump’s press secretary, Republicans in Congress, and House Democrats, who in a lame-duck move Monday morning accused the president of usurping court and jury duty and commuting the 37-year-old’s sentence. He questioned whether the action he was aiming for was overstepping his bounds. Of the 40 death row inmates.
The Democratic president also faces opposition from some anti-death penalty activists, including the family of one of the victims, who say Biden’s commutation should have been extended to three other federal inmates facing the death penalty. It also faced criticism.
“I want the president to know that by putting murderers on death row, we are also pushing the families of the victims into a corner by falsely promising that we must wait until the death penalty is executed before we can begin to heal.” I want them to understand that it will become their future,” the pastor said. Sharon Risher’s mother and two cousins were murdered at Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015.
Risher argued for a commutation of convicted shooter Dylann Roof’s death sentence, adding: “Politics is getting in the way of mercy. You can’t rank victims, Mr. President.”
Supporters of Biden’s decision countered that he was showing moral leadership and praised him for making progress on his campaign promise to abolish the federal death penalty. In a statement accompanying the news, the president said he could not “in good conscience” proceed with the planned execution of a federal death row inmate.
News from Washington that makes sense: Sign up for USA TODAY’s On Politics newsletter.
Biden cited his work as a public defender and President Trump’s support for the death penalty as guiding principles.
President Trump did not comment directly on the pay cut, although he posted about other topics on his social media platforms on Monday. President Trump’s press secretary criticized Biden on behalf of the president-elect.
“These are some of the worst murderers in the world, and this abhorrent decision by Joe Biden is a slap in the face to the victims, their families, and loved ones,” Trump communications director Stephen Chan said in a statement. ” he said.
Even before Biden announced commuting the sentences of death row inmates before leaving office on Monday, he was under pressure from congressional Democrats and anti-death penalty activists. Pope Francis also urged Biden, a Catholic who met with the pope last week, to block the execution.
In all but three cases, Biden obliged. He did not commute the sentence of Robert Bowers, who was convicted of the 2018 Tree of Life synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh that killed 11 people. Roof was convicted in the Mother Emanuel church shooting that left nine people dead. Or Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was convicted of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing that killed three people and injured more than 260.
As a presidential candidate, Biden promised to abolish the death penalty in 2020 and said in a statement that he did not want the deaths of about 30 others to weigh on him after he leaves office.
“I am more convinced than ever that the death penalty must end at the federal level,” he said. “In good conscience, I cannot silently allow the new administration to resume the executions I had stopped.”
Biden faces backlash from both sides of the aisle
Anti-death penalty advocates quickly voiced their support. Some called on Biden to do more after failing to commute the death sentences of military personnel.
“At first I was thrilled that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev received the death penalty. Today, I’ve changed,” said Gene Schmidt, a former Republican U.S. congressman and current Ohio congressman who witnessed the Boston Marathon bombings. ”
“I think he deserves life in prison without parole, and I am upset that President Biden will not commute his death sentence to life in prison without parole,” Schmidt said.
The death row inmate’s spiritual advisor, the Rev. Jeff Hood, was relentless in his criticism. He also accused Biden of ranking victims.
“We’re in the same moral abyss as before,” Hood told USA TODAY. “Regardless of how many death sentences President Biden commutes, by not commuting them all, he has ensured that the killings will continue.”
Republicans in Congress were also upset with Biden.
“Joe Biden is spending his final days in office trying to save America’s worst monsters. These murderers were sentenced to death by a jury of their peers, then went through a long and tedious appeals process. ” wrote Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, on X (formerly Twitter).
In another post, Cotton called for both Congress and the Justice Department to investigate the legality of the cuts.
Conservative firebrand Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) claimed that Biden was abusing the president’s pardon power “to perpetrate a miscarriage of justice.”
“The rule of law depends on our faith in it. @JoeBiden is not the only problem… it’s the radical left destroying the rule of law. This is the end,” Roy wrote to X.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the criticism.
Democratic Party members express support for resignation
Praise for Biden’s remarks came mostly along party lines on Capitol Hill.
“By taking this historic action, President Biden is demonstrating the moral leadership needed at this moment,” Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., said in a statement. Pressley urged Biden to commute his federal death sentence at a press conference earlier this month.
“The president’s decision today imposes a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole and ensures that these individuals will never again threaten public safety,” said Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick. “But it does not suggest the myriad problems associated with the death penalty.” Durbin, Illinois.
Biden didn’t endorse every Democrat. Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Ill., disagreed with his party’s opinion in an interview with CNN, arguing that the outgoing administration was setting a negative precedent by “overturning cases decided in the courts.”
“While I understand the Trump administration’s future concerns and threats regarding these matters, the basic idea is that if we believe that justice has not been served in such cases, we should reduce sentences,” Quigley said. “I think it means granting amnesty,” he said, adding, “No.” One person is above the law. ”
