On Dec. 23, 2024, President Joe Biden announced he would be commuting the sentences of 37 federal inmates facing execution. Biden’s decision came less than a month before President Donald Trump, a supporter of capital punishment, was set to take office. The decision to commute these prisoners comes from Biden’s disdain for federal executions despite the controversy surrounding the death penalty.
In a statement released by the White House, Biden stated: “But guided by my conscience and my experience as a public defender, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Vice President and now President, I am more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level.”
Biden continued to indicate his displeasure at President Donald Trump’s administration’s view on federal executions, “I cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted,” Biden said. Trump, who took office on Jan. 20, oversaw 13 federal executions during his first presidency, the most under a single president in 120 years, according to AP News.
Biden made it clear that he condemned the acts of the prisoners despite the commuting of their sentences, “Make no mistake: I condemn these murderers, grieve for the victims of their despicable acts and ache for all the families who have suffered unimaginable and irreparable loss.” Despite publicly condemning federal executions, Biden did not reduce the sentences of three federal prisoners; Robert Bowers, Dylann Roof and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. The first of the two were both convicted of mass shootings at places of worship and the third was convicted of the bombing at the Boston Marathon in 2013.
Trump has not only made it clear through his first presidency that he disagrees with Biden’s views on federal executions, but he also released a statement regarding the president’s decision, saying that it “makes no sense” on his social media platform, Truth Social. In another post, Trump promised to pursue the death penalty once he is in office, “As soon as I am inaugurated, I will direct the Justice Department to vigorously pursue the death penalty to protect American families and children from violent rapists, murderers and monsters. We will be a Nation of Law and Order again!”
Hours after being sworn into office on Jan. 20, Trump signed an order calling for Attorney General Jeff Jackson to take action that would give states enough lethal injection drugs to carry out executions. While many states, N.C included, have struggled to carry out capital punishment over the years, this order would, according to AP News, “help preserve capital punishment in states that have struggled to maintain adequate supplies of lethal injection drugs.”
In the executive order, “Restoring The Death Penalty and Protecting Public Safety,” Trump states, “Capital punishment is an essential tool for deterring and punishing those who would commit the most heinous crimes and acts of lethal violence against American citizens.” Trump called for the attorney general to seek out the death penalty for all federal crimes when involving “the murder of a law enforcement officer or a capital crime committed by an alien illegally present in this country.”
Biden and Trump are not alone in their disagreements about the death penalty. According to a 2023 poll conducted by Gallup, Americans are split on whether they favor the death penalty, with 53% of Americans favoring the death penalty. While those in favor of Biden’s decision to commute 37 inmates may have cause to celebrate now, come January a new administration may give those in favor of capital punishment a cause to celebrate.
Read more about Biden’s decision and capital punishment here.
