WASHINGTON- That of President Joe Biden decision to commute sentences of almost all federal death row inmates to life in prison without the possibility of parole has sparked a fierce debate over the morality of executing convicted murderers and what constitutes justice for the families of their victims.
Biden faced backlash from a spokesperson for President-elect Donald Trump, congressional Republicans and a House Democrat, who questioned whether the president had overstepped his bounds by usurping the work of courts and juries with its lame duck decision Monday morning to commute the sentences of 37 people. out of 40 sentenced to death.
The Democratic president also faced criticism from some anti-death penalty activists who said he did not go far enough, including a family member of one victim, who said Biden’s commutations should have extend to three other federal inmates facing the death penalty.
“I need the president to understand that when you put a killer on death row, you also put the families of their victims in limbo with the false promise that we have to wait until there is an execution before we to be able to begin to heal,” the reverend said. Sharon Risher, whose mother and two cousins were killed in 2015 at Mother Emmanuel Church in Charleston, South Carolina.
Arguing for the commutation of convicted shooter Dylann Roof’s death sentence, Risher added: “Politics got in the way of mercy. You cannot classify the victims, Mr. President.
Supporters of Biden’s decision countered that he was showing moral leadership and praised him for making progress on his campaign promise to end the federal death penalty. In a statement Accompanying the news, the president said he could not, in “good conscience,” allow planned executions of federal death row inmates to move forward.
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Biden cited his work as a public defender and Trump’s support for the death penalty as guiding factors.
Trump has not commented directly on the commutations, although he posted about other topics on his social media platform on Monday. A Trump spokesperson criticized Biden on behalf of the president-elect.
“They are among the worst killers in the world and this heinous decision by Joe Biden is a slap in the face to the victims, their families and loved ones,” said Trump communications director Steven Cheung.
Biden had faced pressure from congressional Democrats and anti-death penalty activists before Monday’s announcement to commute the sentences of death row inmates before leaving office. Pope Francis also pushed Biden, who is Catholic and spoke with the pontiff last week, to prevent executions.
In all but three cases, Biden agreed. He did not commute the sentences of Robert Bowers, convicted of the 2018 mass shooting in Tree of life synagogue that left 11 dead in Pittsburgh; Roof, who was convicted in the Mother Emmanuel Church a mass shooting where nine people died; or Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was convicted for 2013 Boston Marathon bombing that killed three people and injured more than 260.
Biden promised as a presidential candidate to end the death penalty in 2020 and said in a statement that he did not want the deaths of about three dozen other people to weigh on him afterward. his departure from office.
“I am more convinced than ever that we must end the use of the death penalty at the federal level,” he said. “I cannot in good conscience stand back and let a new administration resume the executions I stopped.”
Biden faces backlash from both sides of the aisle
Death penalty advocates quickly lent their support. Some pushed Biden, who also did not commute the death sentences of the military, do more.
Former Republican U.S. Congresswoman and current Ohio State Representative Jean Schmidt, who witnessed the Boston Marathon bombing, said: “At first I was delighted that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was sentenced to death. Today I have changed.”
Schmidt said, “I think he deserves life in prison without parole, and I am troubled that President Biden has not commuted his death sentence to life in prison without parole.” »
Death Row Spiritual Advisor Reverend Jeff Hood was merciless in his criticism. He also accused Biden of pigeonholing victims.
“We’re in the same moral abyss that we were in before,” Hood told USA TODAY. “No matter how many death sentences President Biden just commuted, by not commuting them all, he ensured that the killings would continue. »
Congressional Republicans were also unhappy with Biden.
“Joe Biden is taking advantage of his last days in power to spare the worst monsters in America. These killers were sentenced to death by a jury of their peers and then went through a long and drawn-out appeal process,” said Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark. wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
In a separate article, Cotton called for both a congress and Justice Department investigation into the legality of the commutations.
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, a conservative firebrand, argued that Biden abused the president’s pardon power “to commit a miscarriage of justice.”
“The rule of law depends on our faith in it. @JoeBiden That’s not the only problem…it’s radical leftists who are destroying the rule of law. This is the end,” Roy wrote on X.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the criticism.
Democratic lawmakers offer support for sentence commutations
Praise for Biden’s commutations fell mostly along partisan lines on Capitol Hill.
“By taking this historic action, President Biden is demonstrating the type of moral leadership that the moment demands,” Rep. Ayanna Pressley, Democrat of Mass., said in a statement. Pressley advocated for Biden to commute federal death sentences in a press conference earlier this month.
“Today’s decision by the President imposes a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole and ensures that these individuals will never again pose a threat to public safety, but without involving the myriad of problems associated with the sentence capital,” added Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick. Durbin, D-Ill.
Biden has not convinced all the Democrats. Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Ill., disagreed with his party’s chairman in a Interview with CNNarguing that the outgoing administration was setting a negative precedent by “overturning cases decided by the courts.”
“I understand the Trump administration’s concerns and threats about this, but I think the basic principle is this: I think you commute sentences or pardon people when you think justice hasn’t been served. rendered in these cases,” Quigley said, adding: “No, we are above the law.