Save 40 lives – join us and help! Get US President Joe Biden to act!
President Joe Biden commuted 37 of the 40 death sentences to life imprisonment!
Our sincere thanks go to the president – at the same time, we support the campaigns calling on Joe Biden to commute the remaining three sentences as well as those handed down by military courts.
And on our own behalf – the Wall Street Journal writes: “Aware that the president-elect was likely to resume executions, activists mobilized after the election to push Biden, with some groups sending the White House post cards bearing the slogan, “Stop Trump Executions.” – So we were noticed!
Now that the US presidential election has confirmed that Donald Trump has been re-elected to the presidency, this is bad news for critics and opponents of the death penalty. Because this fact puts 40 human lives in acute danger.
Although a US president has no influence on the death penalty in the individual states, he does have an influence on the death penalty at federal level. Donald Trump has had 13 federal death sentences carried out in the last six months of his first term, breaking all records.
Unfortunately, he intends to pick up where he left off – putting the current 40 death row inmates on US federal death row in mortal danger. One person could save their lives: If current US President Joe Biden were to commute all federal death sentences to prison terms before he leaves office on January 20, 2025! Governors of US states repeatedly have done something similar in the past, for example George Ryan in Illinois in 2003 – so it is possible.
Sign petitions online
That is why there is currently a large-scale campaign to persuade President Joe Biden to do just that – petitions by Death Penalty Action (DPA):
- There is a petition specifically for organizations to join the call: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/president-biden-commute-the-row-abolish-demolish-the-death-penalty – it can be church congregations, clubs, businesses, etc. as well!
- There is also a similar petition for individuals, which can be found here: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/biden-demolish-the-death-chamber/ – sign this petition and spread the word!
- Update: There are now more petitions for individuals to sign and share!
a) https://commutetherow.com (created jointly by over 20 organizations) and
b) https://catholicsmobilizing.org/take-action/tell-president-biden-commute-the-federal-death-row (created by Catholics – Joe Biden is Catholic) and
c) https://action.aclu.org/petition/tell-president-biden-commute-row (created by the American Civil Liberties Union ACLU) and
d) https://deathpenaltyfocus.salsalabs.org/petition-urge-biden/index.html (of an organization in California working against the Death Penalty) and
e) https://www.votervoice.net/USCCB/Campaigns/119395/Respond (of the Catholic Bishops in the USA).
Write letters
- In addition, it will certainly have even more impact if many corresponding letters reach President Biden – his address:
President Joe Biden
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20500
U.S.A. - You can also write to Vice President Kamala Harris and ask her to influence Joe Biden accordingly – both Biden and Harris are not supporters of the death penalty, so the prospects are good. Her address:
Vice President Kamala Harris
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20500
U.S.A. - Alternatively, both can be contacted online: https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/ – or preferably by all means and even several times.
Sign pre-made postcards
- Update: As a middle way in terms of effort between an online petition and the gold standard of formulating your own letter, the German Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty has created postcards that simply need to be signed, stamped, and sent to President Biden in the United States: PRINT TEMPLATE Front page and back page. For further information: gabi20uhl[at]gmail.com.
- People in the US can order postcards from Death Penalty Action: Use This Page To Order #StopTrumpExecutions Postcard/Handout Cards
- The organization Death Penalty Alternatives for Arizona has launched a postcard campaign that people can take part in using an online form.
Call the White House
Update: You can also call the White House by dialing (+1) 202-456-1111 or (+1) 202-456-1414. The lines are open Tuesday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. ET. “Urge President Biden to commute all federal and military death sentences before leaving office.”
The members of the German Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty are aware that a large proportion of prisoners on death row have committed immeasurably terrible crimes, and we do not wish to trivialize these facts in any way. But we are convinced that the execution of an offender only creates new suffering and therefore reject the death penalty in all cases.
Join us and appeal to President Joe Biden! Help save 40 lives. Thanks in advance to everyone who gets involved and participates!
Gabi Uhl
German Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
For more information:
DPA Federal Toolkit 2024