President Biden's sweeping clemency actions in his final weeks of presidency ignited a fierce response from his successor.
According to The US Sun, Biden has commuted the sentences of 37 death row inmates to life imprisonment without parole, leaving only three inmates remaining on federal death row, drawing immediate criticism from President-elect Donald Trump's team.
The controversial move affects some of the nation's most notorious criminals, including Thomas Sanders, who killed 12-year-old Lexis Roberts, and Jorge Avila-Torrez, convicted of murdering two young girls. The decision aligns with Biden's long-standing opposition to capital punishment, except in cases of terrorism and hate-motivated mass murders.
Steven Cheung, Trump's spokesperson, delivered a scathing response to Biden's decision. He emphasized the president-elect's commitment to restoring what he terms the "rule of law" upon returning to the White House.
Trump's team characterizes the commutations as particularly egregious given the nature of the crimes committed. The criticism focuses on the impact on victims' families and their loved ones, suggesting the decision undermines justice.
The stark contrast between Biden's and Trump's approaches to criminal justice becomes evident in their use of presidential clemency powers. While Trump issued 144 pardons during his presidency, Biden has already surpassed historical precedents with over 1,500 commutations.
The administration's decision leaves only three inmates on federal death row: Robert Bowers, Dylann Roof, and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Each case involves acts of terrorism or hate-motivated mass murder, aligning with Biden's stated policy exceptions.
These remaining cases represent some of the most notorious crimes in recent American history. Bowers killed 11 people in the Tree of Life Synagogue massacre, Roof murdered nine people in a Charleston church, and Tsarnaev was responsible for the Boston Marathon bombing.
Biden's stance on capital punishment has remained consistent throughout his presidency. As stated by the White House:
These are among the worst killers in the world and this abhorrent decision by Joe Biden is a slap in the face to the victims, their families, and their loved ones. President Trump stands for the rule of the law, which will return when is back in the White House after he was elected with a massive mandate from the American people.
The death row commutations follow Biden's recent clemency actions, which included pardoning his son Hunter from federal gun charges. This controversial decision came just before Hunter's scheduled sentencing.
The scope of Biden's clemency actions extends beyond death row inmates. His administration has granted relief to 1,500 individuals placed in home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic, along with 39 pardons for non-violent offenses.
This wave of clemency actions represents the largest in US history, surpassing the combined pardons of recent predecessors Barack Obama and George W. Bush, who issued 212 and 189 pardons, respectively, during their eight-year terms.
Biden's final weeks in office have marked a significant transformation in federal death penalty policy, commuting 37 death sentences while maintaining capital punishment only for cases involving terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder. The decision leaves just three inmates on federal death row, setting up a stark contrast with President-elect Trump's promised return to stricter enforcement of capital punishment upon taking office in 2025.
