Background

Less than a month before he leaves office, President Biden has commuted 37 of 40 federal death sentences, in a bold and historic move.

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.

The death penalty is a system that perpetuates injustice, particularly for Black, Brown, and economically disadvantaged people, who are the most vulnerable to wrongful convictions and death sentences. It does not deter crime or enhance public safety. Continuing the federal death penalty increases the risk of killing innocent people and deepening systemic inequalities.

The federal death penalty, like its state-level counterparts, is steeped in racial and geographic bias. Today, 55% of the 40 people on federal death row are people of color, including 15 Black men, echoing the racial injustices and economic discrimination that have historically plagued our nation. Additionally, federal death sentences are concentrated in a handful of states and circuits –Texas, Virginia, and Missouri alone account for 43% of current federal death sentences. 

In federal and state systems alike, the flaws in death penalty cases are profound. Defendants often lack adequate defense, are convicted on the basis of unreliable and discredited forensic evidence, and face biased proceedings, with all-white juries in some cases. To make matters worse, those on federal death row often face severely limited post-conviction review processes. Most people on federal death row would not even be prosecuted under today’s Department of Justice standards, which limit death sentences to cases with significant national interest. Yet, their federal death sentences still stand. This makes the federal death penalty error-prone, unreliable, and deeply unjust.

Despite these glaring issues, the federal government under President Trump resumed executions in 2020, carrying out 13 executions in just seven months. Many of those executed had intellectual disabilities, serious mental illnesses, and histories of deep trauma, and their legal proceedings were tainted by racial bias, junk science, and other flaws. These deaths also occurred despite calls for mercy from victims’ families and demands for fairness from a broad coalition of Americans across political and faith backgrounds. 

By commuting the sentences of those on federal death row, President Biden takes a crucial step toward ending unjust executions and advancing a more just, equitable America. This action not only fulfills a promise made in 2020, but it is also a meaningful step toward healing America’s long legacy of racial and economic injustice. 

Please add your thanks by sending a note to President Biden.