As President Biden's term nears its end, reports suggest that he is contemplating commuting the sentences of most, if not all, of the 40 men on federal death row. This potential move could clash with President-elect Trump's intentions to expedite executions upon taking office in January.
Attorney General Merrick Garland, who supervises federal prisons, purportedly recommended that Biden commute all but a few extreme sentences. Exceptions may include individuals like the Boston Marathon bomber, the Tree of Life synagogue attacker, and the Charleston church shooter.
Among those who might have their death sentences commuted to life imprisonment are a former Marine guilty of killing two girls and a female naval officer, a Las Vegas man convicted of the abduction and murder of a 12-year-old girl, a Chicago podiatrist who fatally shot a patient to prevent her from testifying in a Medicare fraud case, and two men involved in a kidnapping-for-ransom plot resulting in the deaths of five immigrants.
President Biden, a devout Catholic, recently conversed with Pope Francis, who advocated for the commutation of America's death row inmates during his weekly prayer. Sources suggest that a decision from the president could be made by Christmas, with the primary query revolving around the extent of the commutation.
Biden is notably the first president to openly oppose capital punishment. During his 2020 campaign, he pledged to push for legislation to abolish the federal death penalty and encourage states to follow suit. While initial contemplation of an executive order in January 2021 did not materialize, Attorney General Garland later imposed a moratorium on federal executions to conduct further evaluation, resulting in no federal executions under Biden's administration thus far.
