President Biden is commuting the sentences of nearly all the inmates on federal death row, a move that comes not even two weeks after he went through with the “largest single-day grant of clemency” in American history, the White House announced Monday.
Of the 40 inmates on federal death row, according to DeathPenaltyInfo.org, Biden is commuting 37 men sentenced to death, reclassifying their sentences to life without the possibility of parole.
The three inmates not included are: Robert Bowers, who is responsible for the mass shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in 2018, which left 11 people dead; Dylann Roof, a White supremacist who killed nine Black parishioners at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015; and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who worked with his now-dead brother to perpetuate the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing that killed three people and injured hundreds.
The men being resentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole are convicted of various murderous acts against one person or multiple. Among the victims of the 37 men are law enforcement officers, children and other inmates.
A handful of the men on death row were also set to be executed with their co-defendants.
Biden, who only supports the death penalty at the federal level for “terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder,” said this move will prevent President-elect Donald Trump’s administration from “carrying out the execution sentences that would not be handed down under current policy and practice,” according to the White House statement.
The president declared a moratorium on federal executions after taking office in 2021.
The convicted murderers who will now escape execution include: Marcivicci Barnette, who killed a man in a carjacking and his ex-girlfriend; co-defendants Brandon Basham and Chadrick Fulks, who kidnapped and killed a woman after escaping prison; Anthony Battle, who killed a prison guard; Jason Brown, who stabbed a postal worker to death; Thomas Hager, who committed a drug-related killing; David Runyon, who participated in the murder-for-hire plot of a Naval officer; Thomas Sanders, who kidnapped and killed a 12-year-old girl; Rejon Taylor, who carjacked, kidnapped and killed a restaurant owner; and Alejandro Umana, who killed two brothers inside a restaurant.
Two men were on death row for the murders of witnesses: police officer Len Davis, who ordered the murder of a witness who was part of an investigation into a misconduct complaint against him, and Ronald Mikos, who killed a federal grand jury witness in a Medicare fraud investigation.
Ex-Marine Jorge Torrez was set to be executed for killing another servicemember.
The list also includes men who committed deadly bank robberies, such as co-defendants Billie Allen and Norris Holder, who killed a bank guard during their crime; Brandon Council, who killed two bank employees; and Daryl Lawrence, who killed a special-duty police officer during an attempted bank robbery.
Co-defendants James Roane, Jr., and Richard Tipton committed a series of drug-related murders as gang members with Corey Johnson, who was executed in 2021.
Julius Robinson killed two people over drugs, and so did co-defendants Ricardo Sanchez, Jr., and Daniel Troya, who killed a family, including two children.
Drug lord Kaboni Savage murdered or directed someone else to murder 12 people during a 16-year period – including an arson that killed six members of a federal informant’s family.
Edward Fields was on death row for murdering two campers on federal land, while Marvin Gabrion and Richard Jackson were both there for killing a woman on federal land in separate cases.
Co-defendants Jurijus Kadamovas and Iouri Mikhel were convicted of kidnapping and killing five Russian and Georgian immigrants for ransom.
Lastly, the following men were sentenced to death in various cases for killing a prisoner in federal prison: Shannon Agofsky, Carlos Caro, co-defendants Wesley Coonce and Charles Hall, co-defendants Christopher Cramer and Ricky Fackrell, Joseph Ebron and co-defendants Edgar Garcia and Mark Snarr.
Monday’s commutations join Biden’s list of similar moves during his presidency, which have sparked mixed reactions from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and have outpaced any president in modern history when compared to length of service.
Biden faced criticism earlier this month when he commuted the sentences of nearly 1,500 prisoners placed in home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic and pardoned 40 others, including his son, Hunter.
As of Dec. 13, Biden has pardoned a total of 65 individuals and commuted sentences for 1,634 inmates during his time as president, according to the Department of Justice.
“The President has issued more sentence commutations at this point in his presidency than any of his recent predecessors at the same point in their first terms,” White House officials said in a previous statement.
Various groups and people, including former corrections officials, praised Biden’s decision ahead of the public announcement, calling him “courageous” and thanking him for sending a “strong message.”
Biden was urged by 28 former corrections officials in a letter to commute sentences on federal death row for the safety of federal correctional professionals who participate in executions.
“President Biden has made a courageous decision that will benefit many within the federal Bureau of Prisons. Resources can be allocated more rationally, and staff will not face the harm of participating in executions any time soon. I hope state leaders follow suit, for the benefit of their own correctional staff,” said Justin Jones, the former Director of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections.
Bryan Stevenson, founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, was also among those who issued a statement, saying, in part, that this decision “marks an important turning point” and sends a “strong message to Americans that the death penalty is not the answer to our country’s concerns about public safety.”
Biden said he does condemn the murderers and their “despicable acts,” and he grieves for the victims and families who have suffered “unimaginable and irreparable loss,” but he “cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted,” according to the White House statement.
It also said Biden will use the last few weeks of his presidency to “provide meaningful second chances” and “review additional pardons and commutations.”
