President-elect Donald Trump has criticized President Joe Biden for commuting the sentences of nearly all American federal prisoners on death row.
In his last month in office, President Biden announced that he would convert the death sentences of 37 out of 40 inmates awaiting federal execution to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
The commutation included nine individuals convicted of murdering fellow inmates, four for murders committed during bank heists, and one who killed a prison guard.
“Joe Biden just commuted the death sentence of 37 of the most dangerous killers in our country,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social, his social media platform.
“It makes no sense. Friends and relatives are further devastated. They can’t believe this is happening!”
Donald Trump stated that he would instruct his Justice Department to “vigorously pursue” the death penalty to safeguard Americans from “violent rapists, murderers, and monsters” upon taking office on January 20.
“Once I am inaugurated, I will direct the Justice Department to vigorously seek the death penalty to protect American families and children from violent rapists, murderers, and monsters,” Mr. Trump declared.
During his first term from 2017 to 2021, Mr. Trump revived federal executions after a nearly 20-year hiatus.
President Biden had imposed a moratorium on the federal death penalty but faced pressure to take action before leaving the White House on January 20, especially with indications from Mr. Trump that he would reinstate the practice.
Three men were not included in this commutation: one of the Boston Marathon bombers from 2013, a gunman who killed 11 Jewish worshippers in 2018, and a white supremacist responsible for the shooting of nine Black churchgoers in 2015.
“Make no mistake: I condemn these murderers, mourn for the victims of their heinous acts, and ache for all the families who have endured unimaginable and irrevocable loss,” Mr. Biden stated yesterday.
“But guided by my conscience and experience… I am more convinced than ever that we must end the use of the death penalty at the federal level.”
“In good conscience, I cannot stand aside and allow a new administration to resume the executions that I halted.”
