Innocence Groups and Others in Support of President Biden’s Commutation of 37 Federal Death Sentences

(Washington, D.C., Monday, December 23, 2024) Fulfilling a promise he made while campaigning for office in 2020 and heeding nationwide calls from across the political and faith spectrum, today President Joe Biden commuted 37 federal death sentences to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Today’s decision is the largest number of death sentences commuted by any President in the modern era and was widely applauded, as reflected in the statements below.

“Today marks an important turning point in ending America’s tragic and error-prone use of the death penalty, said Bryan Stevenson, the founder and Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative. “By commuting almost all federal death sentences, President Biden has sent a strong message to Americans that the death penalty is not the answer to our country’s concerns about public safety.  I commend President Biden for recognizing that we don’t have to kill people to show that killing is wrong, that we can and should reduce violence in our communities by refusing to sanction more violence and killing in our courts and prisons.”

“This is a historic day,” said Martin Luther King, III, who publicly urged the President to commute the federal death row. “By commuting these sentences, President Biden has done what no President before him was willing to do: take meaningful and lasting action not just to acknowledge the death penalty’s racist roots but also to remedy its persistent unfairness.”

Calls for the President to commute federal death sentences have been mounting in recent weeks. On December 9, letters from hundreds of individuals and groups,  including corrections officials, business leaders, Black pastors, Catholics, civil and human rights advocates, innocence organizations, prosecutors, former judges, mental health and intellectual disability advocates, victim family members, and more were made public, stressing the deep problems in the federal death penalty system that warranted commutations to life.

Donnie Oliverio is a retired police officer in Columbus, Ohio, whose police partner was killed by one of the men whose death sentences were commuted today. “I would like to commend President Biden for the important action he has taken today,” Mr. Oliverio said. “Putting to death the person who killed my police partner and best friend would have brought me no peace. The President has done what is right here, and what is consistent with the faith he and I share. Thank you, Mr. President.”

Olga L. Castro and Eulogio Castro, who lost their brother, Victor, in a federally charged murder, had asked President Biden to commute the death sentences of the perpetrators. They underscored that an execution would “not make us feel better,” but “would cause us more pain.” In their words, “only God gives life and only God should take away life.”

“I am so grateful to President Biden for taking this step to ensure no federal correctional professionals will face the harm of participating in executions for the foreseeable future. It’s difficult to overstate just how much the execution process impacts everyone involved,” said Gary Mohr, the former Director of the Ohio Department of Corrections, who, along with 28 other former corrections officials had urged President Biden to commute federal death sentences.

“President Biden has made a courageous decision that will benefit many within the federal Bureau of Prisons. Resources can be allocated more rationally, and staff will not face the harm of participating in executions any time soon. I hope state leaders follow suit, for the benefit of their own correctional staff,” said Justin Jones, the former Director of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, who co-signed the corrections letter.

“I’m grateful to President Biden for making a decision that is consistent with what I and so many of my colleagues in law enforcement know to be true: the death penalty drains resources away from the kinds of programs that actually help us prevent crime, perpetuates systemic injustices in our justice system, and precludes the rectification of mistakes in cases of wrongful conviction,” said Brendan Cox, Interim Chief of Police, Albany Police Department. “My heart is with those who have lost loved ones to violence, and I hope this decision leads to some measure of peace for everyone involved.”

On December 8, Pope Francis publicly offered a prayer for those on the federal death row, urging President Biden to extend mercy to them. Today’s decision was cheered by Catholics nationally and globally.

“We are grateful and relieved that the President has exercised his constitutional authority in a manner that aligns with his faith. This is a historic decision that we hope serves as a model to leaders at the state level to follow suit,” said Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy, Executive Director of Catholic Mobilizing Network, a national organization that mobilizes more than 30,000 Catholics from across the country to end the death penalty, including Catholic bishops, dioceses, state Catholic conferences, Catholic ministry leaders, religious communities, and other people of goodwill.

“President Biden has answered the prayers of hundreds of Black faith leaders who urged him to make this courageous decision. This decision also ensures that the door to redemption remains open for the men who will now serve life sentences instead of facing execution,” said Joia Thornton of Georgia, Executive Director of the Faith Leaders of Color Coalition, which had sent a letter from more than 200 Black and Indigenous faith leaders to the President.

“I commend President Biden for taking a historic step towards redressing the racial disparities and other deep flaws in the federal death penalty system and moving us towards a more just and equal society. I have witnessed first-hand the harm our capital punishment system has brought to communities of color and the damage the death penalty inflicts on the souls of all involved,” said the Rev. Darryl Gray of Missouri, a member of Faith Leaders of Color Coalition.

“The Legal Defense Fund (LDF) applauds President Biden’s historic decision to commute these federal death sentences. The President’s actions are a recognition of the racist origins and impact of the death penalty, and of the irreparably broken and inhumane system of which they are a part. His commitment to thoughtfully administering justice with mercy will help cement a legacy of moral leadership,” said Janai Nelson, President of LDF.

“President Biden took a historic and courageous step in addressing the failed death penalty in the United States,” said Anthony Romero, Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union. “With a stroke of his pen, the President locks in his legacy as a leader who stands for racial justice, humanity, and morality. This will undoubtedly be one of the seminal achievements of the Biden presidency.”

“President Biden has made a historic decision to put common sense over retribution and vengeance. Commuting these federal death sentences sends an important signal that there are alternatives to state-sanctioned killing. By championing forgiveness and mercy, President Biden has come down on the right side of history,” said Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group, who co-signed a letter to the President from more than 100 business leaders urging federal death row commutations.

Actor Tony Goldwyn, a member of the Innocence Project Board of Directors and a staunch advocate for the wrongfully convicted stated, “This is what we have been hoping for. A truly courageous use of the President’s clemency power to address the problems of a system that can’t be fixed and risks taking innocent lives. Thank you, President Biden.”

“I applaud President Biden for using his constitutional power in this important way. Our system of justice will be better for it,” said Hon. Timothy Lewis, former judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, who co-signed a letter to the President from 21 former federal judges.

Jamila Hodge, CEO of EJUSA said: “Thank you, President Biden, for striking a blow against racism and a system that has always targeted Black people. This action, aligned with your more recent pardons, reaffirms our shared belief in the dignity and value of all human life and the possibility of redemption in everyone.”

“We applaud President Biden’s decision to stand by his pledge to end the death penalty. His action values life and allows the next administration to focus on policies that will make better use of our country’s limited financial resources,” said Demetrius Minor, National Manager of Conservatives Concerned.

Ruth Friedman, Director of the Federal Capital Habeas Project which represents federal death row prisoners, also called today’s decision “historic.” She continued, “President Biden’s death penalty commutations will have a lasting, positive impact on our nation’s justice system. This is a significant step towards addressing the arbitrariness, racial bias, and other systemic flaws that have undermined the meaning of justice in America and eroded public support for the death penalty. With these commutations, President Biden has secured his legacy as a leader guided by integrity, empathy, and faith.”

Today’s decision means no federal prisoner will be at imminent risk of execution under the incoming Trump Administration. During President-elect Trump’s first term, the federal government carried out 13 executions in a seven-month period, an unprecedented number and pace. A majority of those executed were people of color, and several had claims of intellectual disability, severe mental illness, racial bias, prosecutorial misconduct, and other serious problems in their cases. The cases of those whose sentences were commuted today reflect many of these same flaws; much like the cases of those executed, the courts have been unable or unwilling to address those problems.

Facts and figures about racial bias and other serious problems with the federal death penalty system can be accessed here.

Information about the 13 executions carried out by the Trump Administration in 2020-2021 can be accessed here.

For more information, please contact Laura Burstein at: [email protected] or (202) 669-3411.