Biden Commutes Death Sentences of 37 People
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December 23, 2024 Hour: 10:15 am
The outgoing U.S. president is ‘more convinced than ever’ of the need to end the federal death penalty.
On Monday, U.S. President Joe Biden commuted the sentences of 37 out of 40 individuals on federal death row. All sentences will be reclassified as life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
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He has issued more commutations at the end of his presidency than any of his recent predecessors at the same point in their first terms, according to a statement from the U.S. presidency.
Biden, who will leave office on January 20, “has dedicated his career to reducing violent crime and ensuring a fair and effective justice system” and “believes the U.S. must end the use of the federal death penalty, except in cases of terrorism and mass murders motivated by hate.”
When his administration began in January 2021, it imposed a moratorium on federal executions. The measures announced today will prevent the presidency of Donald Trump from “reinstating execution sentences that would not align with current policies and practices.”
Biden stated that the commutations are consistent with the moratorium applied to cases unrelated to terrorism or hate-motivated mass murders.
Earlier in December, the U.S. president announced pardons for approximately 1,500 Americans who demonstrated successful rehabilitation and a commitment to making their communities safer.
His decision included 39 pardons for individuals convicted of nonviolent offenses and commutations for people placed under home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic who have successfully reintegrated with their families and communities.
Biden is also the first president to issue categorical pardons for individuals convicted of marijuana possession and former military members from the LGBTQI+ community convicted of private conduct due to their sexual orientation.
Among those benefiting from today’s decision are Daniel Troya and Ricardo Sanchez Jr., who were sentenced to death in Florida in 2010 for killing four members of a family in a drug-related dispute.
Additionally, Salvadoran MS-13 gang member Jorge Avila-Torrez, sentenced for murdering two girls in 2005 and a naval officer in 2009, will have his sentence commuted, as will Edgar Baltazar Garcia, of Mexican origin, who was sentenced to death in 2010 for killing another inmate in Texas.
“Let no one be mistaken: I condemn these murderers, I grieve for the victims of their despicable acts, and I empathize with all the families who have suffered unimaginable and irreparable losses,” Biden said, adding that he is “more convinced than ever” of the need to end the federal death penalty.
“With a clear conscience, I cannot step aside and allow a new administration to resume the executions I have halted,” he concluded.
teleSUR/ JF Source: EFE
