Democrats and left-leaning organizations are putting pressure on President Joe Biden to follow through on his campaign promise to abolish the death penalty by commuting the sentences of all federal death row inmates. This would include infamous murderers such as the Boston Marathon bomber and Charleston church shooter.
According to a petition signed by hundreds of Democrat-aligned groups, it is “not too late to act decisively” and commute all death sentences before Biden leaves office. The petition argues that the death penalty is outdated and raises concerns of arbitrariness and racial bias.
However, Manhattan Institute fellow Charles Fain Lehman believes that a mass executive clemency for death row inmates would be a “repudiation of the mandate the American people just gave” by electing President Donald Trump. Trump has expressed his support for expanding the use of the death penalty in certain cases, such as for child rapists, drug dealers, and illegal migrants who kill U.S. citizens.
The petition specifically requests that Biden commute death sentences, deauthorize all pending federal capital trial cases, and prohibit the authorization of new death penalty prosecutions. It also asks for the demolition of the federal execution chamber and the rescinding of internal guidelines pertaining to death row cases.
Among the organizations that have signed onto the petition are Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund. Even faith-based groups like the Association of U.S. Catholic Priests and the Episcopal Peace Fellowship have joined in.
Some of the inmates on federal death row include Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was convicted for his role in the 2013 Boston bombings, and Dylann Roof, who was found guilty for killing nine people in a shooting at a black church in Charleston, South Carolina. Rev. Sharon Risher, whose mother, cousins, and friend were killed by Roof, has stated that executing him would not help her heal.
President Biden campaigned on addressing the death penalty and he has one last chance to take meaningful action before Trump assumes office.
Tell President Biden: Act now and commute the sentences of people on federal death row. https://t.co/YXww1kGyUg
— ACLU (@ACLU) November 8, 2024
The ACLU is also circulating a petition to commute federal death sentences, arguing that over half of the inmates on death row are people of color. They urge Biden to prevent “irreversible miscarriages of justice” and build a legacy rooted in “racial justice and compassion”.
While the ACLU, Democrats for Life, and the White House did not respond to requests for comment, it is clear that commuting all federal death sentences would go against Trump’s stance on the issue and would be a betrayal of the American people who elected him.