US President-elect Donald Trump has slammed President Joe Biden for commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 people on federal death row as he is expected to end a pause on federal executions when he takes office in January.
In a social media post, Trump said that Biden just commuted the Death Sentence on 37 of “the worst killers in our Country.” He added, “When you hear the acts of each, you won’t believe that he did this. Makes no sense.”
This came as Biden on Monday, December 23, 2024, converted the punishments of the 37 on death row to life in prison just weeks before Trump is set to take office next month.
Biden said in a statement that his clemency action was guided by his conscience and experience as a public defender and elected official.
He also took a jab at Trump, saying “In good conscience, I cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted.”
However, Trump blasted the move in his post writing that relatives and friends are “further devastated.” “They can’t believe this is happening!” he added.
Biden said in his statement that his action is consistent with the administration’s pause on federal executions in cases other than terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder.
It means just three federal inmates are still facing execution, including the Boston Marathon bomber and the hate crimes killers who slaughtered people in the 2015 Charleston church shooting and 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue shooting.
Attorney General Merrick Garland, who oversees federal prisons, is said to have recommended that the President commute all but a handful of terrorism and hate-crimes cases.
The Biden administration in 2021 announced a moratorium on federal capital punishment to study the protocols used, which suspended executions during Biden’s four years in office.
By commuting 37 death sentences, Biden spared the lives of people convicted in other killings, including murdering police and military officers, slaying people on federal land and those involved in deadly bank robberies or drug deals.
Those individuals include convicted murderers Brandon Basham and Chadrick Fulks, who kidnapped a woman after making a prison break; Marcivicci Barnette, who killed his ex-girlfriend and another man in a carjacking; and Anthony Battle, who killed a prison guard.
David Anthony Runyon who participated in a murder-for-hire plot on a Navy officer’s life, and Thomas Sanders, who killed a 12-year-old girl, will also be spared from execution.
Several convicted bank robbers who killed innocent victims during their crimes are getting clemency as well including Billie Allen and Norris Holder, Brandon Council and Daryl Lawrence.
Trump Vows To Pursue Death Penalty
In a separate post, Trump vowed that once he is inaugurated he will direct the Justice Department to “vigorously pursue the death penalty to protect American families and children from violent rapists, murderers, and monsters.”
In a speech announcing his 2024 campaign, Trump called for those “caught selling drugs to receive the death penalty for their heinous acts.”
He later promised to execute drug and human smugglers and even praised China’s harsher treatment of drug peddlers.
During his first term as president, Trump also advocated for the death penalty for drug dealers.
However, Biden was also working to fulfill his own 2020 campaign promise before leaving office.
While running for President, Biden’s campaign website said he would “work to pass legislation to eliminate the death penalty at the federal level and incentivize states to follow the federal government’s example.”
Biden’s announcement on Monday comes less than two weeks after he commuted the sentences of roughly 1,500 people who were released from prison and placed on home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic.
He also commuted the sentences of 39 others convicted of nonviolent crimes, the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history.
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