USA: President Joe Biden commutes 37 of 40 federal death sentences to prison terms
US President Joe Biden, who is still in office, has announced that he will commute the majority of US federal death sentences to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
“Make no mistake: I condemn these murderers, mourn the victims of their despicable acts, and grieve with all the families who have suffered an unimaginable and final loss,” he said, explaining his decision based on his conscience and his experience as a public defender and politician.
“I cannot stand idly by while a new government resumes executions that I have suspended,” he continued. His successor Donald Trump is a vehement supporter of the death penalty and has had 13 death sentences carried out in the last six months of his first term, more than any other US president ever before.
Numerous organizations and politicians and even the Pope and the US bishops have been campaigning vehemently since the presidential election in early November to convince Joe Biden to take this step and thus prevent Donald Trump from continuing his execution marathon.
In Germany, the German Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty is part of the campaign “Save 40 lives – join us and help! Get US President Joe Biden to act!” and was noticed in the White House – 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. “
Joe Biden’s clemency action applies to all US federal death row inmates except for three people convicted of terrorism or hate-motivated mass murder: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was convicted of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing; Dylann Roof, who shot and killed nine black church members in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015; and Robert Bowers, who stormed a synagogue in the heart of Pittsburgh’s Jewish community in 2018, killing 11 worshippers.
The activists and supporters of the campaign are very grateful to Joe Biden for his decision and at the same time call on him to finish his job (#FinishTheJob) and also to suspend the remaining three death sentences as well as those at military level. The campaign will therefore continue until January 20 at the latest, when Biden will leave office. And one hope rests on the planned meeting between Catholic Joe Biden and Pope Francis on January 10.
Sources:
President Biden Commutes the Sentences of 37 Individuals on Death Row
Biden wandelt 37 Todesurteile in Haftstrafen um
Joe Biden commutes sentences of 37 out of 40 federal death row inmates
Finish the Job, President Biden! – Press release
Gabi Uhl
German Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty