U.S. President Joe Biden has made the decision to reduce the sentences of 37 out of 40 federal inmates who had been sentenced to death. Their punishments have now been commuted to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
This was announced by the White House press office. Since taking office, Biden's administration has imposed a moratorium on the death penalty for federal inmates. Today's decision effectively derails the plans of his predecessor, Donald Trump, to reinstate federal death sentences, as such decisions cannot be overturned by a subsequent president.
Trump reinstated the practice of death sentences during his first term from 2017 to 2020, following nearly a 20-year hiatus. Biden, during his campaign, opposed the death penalty and halted its implementation after taking office in January 2021.
In the past week, Biden has faced pressure from the Democratic Party, anti-death penalty activists, and religious leaders, including Pope Francis, urging him to commute sentences before power returns to Trump.
However, this decision does not apply to over 2,200 individuals sentenced to death by state courts, rather than the federal court system.