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Biden to commute sentences of nearly all men on federal death row

President Joe Biden is commuting the sentences of nearly every prisoner on the federal government's death row, a sweeping decision designed to hinder President-elect Donald Trump’s ability to rapidly resume executions.

Biden will commute the sentences of 37 of the 40 men condemned to death, the second mass clemency in the weeks following the pardon he issued to his son, Hunter Biden.

The president called the death row commutations, which will instead sentence them to imprisonment for life without the possibility of parole, consistent with his administration’s moratorium on executions.

“Make no mistake: I condemn these murderers, grieve for the victims of their despicable acts, and ache for all the families who have suffered unimaginable and irreparable loss,” Biden said in a statement Monday. “But guided by my conscience and my experience as a public defender, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Vice President, and now President, I am more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level.”

Biden added that the commutations were also spurred by Trump’s fervent support for capital punishment, saying he could not allow the incoming administration to restart executions for those he had spared over the last four years.

Thirteen federal inmates were put to death during Trump’s first term. In some instances, he took cases to the Supreme Court to defeat their final legal appeals.

Biden’s commutations exclude three prisoners convicted for what the president characterized as terrorism or “hate-motivated mass murder”: Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and mass shooters Robert Bowers — who killed 11 people at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh — and Dylann Roof, who killed nine people at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina.

The move does nothing for people sentenced to death in state courts, which far outnumber the federal tally. The Death Penalty Information Center counts 2,241 people on death row at the state or federal level in the U.S. or face the possibility of being resentenced to death in a new trial.

Biden’s decision follows a Justice Department recommendation that he grant the commutations and amid increasing pressure from a range of groups that have advocated for a series of clemency actions in his final days. Though the administration has done little to follow through on Biden's 2020 campaign-trail support for abolishing the death penalty, it did halt all executions and conducted a review of capital punishment that the Justice Department is now on the verge of publishing.

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by Anonymousreply 77December 25, 2024 6:38 AM

Go, Mighty Joe!

by Anonymousreply 1December 23, 2024 2:03 PM

Good Go!

by Anonymousreply 2December 23, 2024 2:04 PM

When they have the passion for something they can get it done. Wish as much focus had been put on other things.⁸

by Anonymousreply 3December 23, 2024 2:06 PM

Free Luigi!!

by Anonymousreply 4December 23, 2024 2:09 PM

I wonder which three did not have their sentences commuted.

Is Zhokar Tsarnaev one of them?

He killed a lot of people.

by Anonymousreply 5December 23, 2024 2:09 PM

Biden is Catholic, technically they are against the death penalty.

by Anonymousreply 6December 23, 2024 2:11 PM

r5 "Biden’s commutations exclude three prisoners convicted for what the president characterized as terrorism or “hate-motivated mass murder”: Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and mass shooters Robert Bowers — who killed 11 people at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh — and Dylann Roof, who killed nine people at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina."

by Anonymousreply 7December 23, 2024 2:12 PM

Trump must be pissed. He executed 12, including 6 after he lost.

by Anonymousreply 8December 23, 2024 2:14 PM

Good, R7.

That's good to hear.

by Anonymousreply 9December 23, 2024 2:14 PM

Save our boy Luigi 🙏

by Anonymousreply 10December 23, 2024 2:14 PM

[quote] wonder which three did not have their sentences commuted.Is Zhokar Tsarnaev one of them?

Yes. And Dylann Roof and the Buffalo supermarket shooter.

by Anonymousreply 11December 23, 2024 2:15 PM

I'm glad he made exception for those three utter shitbags, R7.

by Anonymousreply 12December 23, 2024 2:21 PM

I thought that commuting and pardoning was supposed to be a bad thing?

by Anonymousreply 13December 23, 2024 4:09 PM
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by Anonymousreply 14December 23, 2024 4:14 PM

Well he is Catholic.

by Anonymousreply 15December 23, 2024 4:16 PM

R8 I’m pretty sure the vicious murders they committed and a jury of 12 is what got them executed, not Trump.

I’m against the death penalty btw.

by Anonymousreply 16December 23, 2024 4:22 PM

Commuting sentences just means that wont get the death penalty. They remain in prison forever

by Anonymousreply 17December 23, 2024 4:28 PM

R17 I hope and pray that doesn’t need to be said. Even someone with so much as just a high school diploma should get that.

by Anonymousreply 18December 23, 2024 4:34 PM

Yes but when has Stephen Miller ever not been deceptive?

by Anonymousreply 19December 23, 2024 4:36 PM

Maybe he’ll commute the sentence of Matt Gaetz. . . To hell!

by Anonymousreply 20December 23, 2024 4:36 PM

He should have commuted them all. Because come on, you know he is against the death penalty as an aging Catholic. So why not stand on principle.

by Anonymousreply 21December 23, 2024 4:36 PM

[Quote] I thought that commuting and pardoning was supposed to be a bad thing?

👆👆👆 eight years old

by Anonymousreply 22December 23, 2024 4:37 PM

[quote] I hope and pray that doesn’t need to be said. Even someone with so much as just a high school diploma should get that.

Um, this is DL. Your expectations are far too high

by Anonymousreply 23December 23, 2024 4:40 PM

[quote] I thought that commuting and pardoning was supposed to be a bad thing?

No one is getting pardoned here

by Anonymousreply 24December 23, 2024 4:41 PM

Who else thinks this is about Luigi? By making it about Trump, with headlines like this, it’s like they’re baiting him to save face by seeking a capital case for Luigi.

In any case it’s hilarious to see y’all cheer Biden on while asking for Luigi to be spared lol, like these’s chance in hell Biden and the Democratic establishment are on our side on this one.

by Anonymousreply 25December 23, 2024 4:42 PM

Whatever that means

by Anonymousreply 26December 23, 2024 4:47 PM

Well, this is a huge thing. I'm glad he did this.

by Anonymousreply 27December 23, 2024 4:56 PM

So, just to check which way the DL moral compass is pointing this week, it's wrong to kill someone who harms the lives of others? That's the final answer?

Just checking the temperature today.

by Anonymousreply 28December 23, 2024 5:51 PM

[quote] He should have commuted them all. Because come on, you know he is against the death penalty as an aging Catholic. So why not stand on principle.

Because there’s more than one principle at play here.

by Anonymousreply 29December 23, 2024 8:40 PM

I remember I felt sick when Dump executed this woman.

You just know he got his jollies from it.

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by Anonymousreply 30December 23, 2024 8:54 PM

FWIW, I have 2 relatives who were murdered (bludgeoned and stabbed) in their home. In my state, the death penalty is not enforced. The prosecutor in the case urged us to go for life in prison without the possibility of parole. He said it was a tougher way to do time than on death row, so we supported his decision.

by Anonymousreply 31December 23, 2024 9:06 PM

COMMUTE THESE STUDENT LOANS

by Anonymousreply 32December 23, 2024 9:07 PM

Biden should pardon Luigi. He won't because Biden is a slave to the wealthy and white.

by Anonymousreply 33December 23, 2024 9:08 PM

Well, Luigi hasn't been convicted of anything yet, so it's hard to pardon someone who is presumed innocent.

by Anonymousreply 34December 23, 2024 9:29 PM

[quote] COMMUTE THESE STUDENT LOANS

sadly he doesn't have the power

by Anonymousreply 35December 23, 2024 9:41 PM

There is no evidence that the death penalty deters crime. In fact, it's very very expensive to have death penalty inmates because their appeals go on and on and on.

I don't like the state having the power to execute. Study after study shows that minorities and poor people get the death penalty at higher rates.

Life in prison is the best option

by Anonymousreply 36December 23, 2024 9:44 PM

Several of the Boston Marathon bombing victims bled out on the street. I'm glad he didn't change the sentence.

by Anonymousreply 37December 23, 2024 9:48 PM

as someone who had a family member who was killed by her partner, I totally agree with the death penalty. the death penalty is not cruelty, cruelty is to have a human being rotting away like an animal inside a prison. those who oppose the death penalty do it because of the putrefaction of their religious beliefs. thry would rather subject a sentient being to a life of torture inside a cell than to quickly put them to sleep. why not using anesthesia? why using injections that can be painful to them and prolong their suffering before dying? there is a humane way of death penalty but human greed don’t want to spend money to do it a pain free experience for the convict.

by Anonymousreply 38December 23, 2024 10:19 PM

It's not Biden. He hasn't know what day it is since 2023.

by Anonymousreply 39December 23, 2024 10:22 PM

R38 My dad is a CO. People incarcerated are not subjected to a life of torture in a cell. They get 3 meals a week, television, music, and infrequently, internet access. Forcible rape is not even common like the popular stereotype. They just cant do shit on their time and can’t leave.

by Anonymousreply 40December 23, 2024 10:25 PM

3 meals a day*

by Anonymousreply 41December 23, 2024 10:25 PM

Good! The death penalty has been proven for decades to not do anything to curb crime. It's nothing more than men playing God.

by Anonymousreply 42December 23, 2024 10:31 PM

[quote] They just cant do shit on their time and can’t leave.

Actually that sounds like torture

by Anonymousreply 43December 23, 2024 10:33 PM

R43 Sounds like torture to me too. That’s why I would never murder anyone. But it’s not “torture” compared to real torture— soldiers, POWs, serial killer victims. People who have actually been tortured.

by Anonymousreply 44December 23, 2024 10:36 PM

And depending on the prison. They get better health care than poors. I said what I said.

by Anonymousreply 45December 23, 2024 10:38 PM

Btw I should clarify. I am staunchly against the death penalty due to philosophical and religious beliefs.

by Anonymousreply 46December 23, 2024 11:11 PM

no wonder those convicts do not want to get the death penalty and appeal it at courts all the time. a pain free death is actually a highly humane form of conviction. many people will die of far more painful and traumatic events such as accidents etc.

compare the criminality levels in countries with death penalty and in countries without it. the criminal know when their lives are threatened and they think twice when committing an assault that ends in death.

by Anonymousreply 47December 23, 2024 11:40 PM

[quoted] a pain free death

Indeed.

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by Anonymousreply 48December 23, 2024 11:56 PM

Many (if not most) of the same people who sentence people to the death penalty, and carry out the death penalty, are the same people who show up at church every Sunday worshiping their God who said "vengeance is mine". The hypocrisy of these people is palpable,.

by Anonymousreply 49December 23, 2024 11:57 PM

No fan of the death penalty, but it sure does help secure guilty pleas from those at risk of execution. So there’s that deterrence.

by Anonymousreply 50December 24, 2024 2:08 AM

Heartbreaking story...Columbus Ohio parents----who lost their son (a police officer)---found out Biden has now commuted the sentence of their sons killer.. Biden should be ashamed of himself.

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by Anonymousreply 51December 24, 2024 3:24 AM

It’s not like their son’s killer is going free, R51. His death sentence was merely commuted to life without the possibility of parole. The pro-life community should have some appreciation for an anti-capital punishment president.

by Anonymousreply 52December 24, 2024 3:38 AM

In this instance, Catholicism is the only -ism with an, arguably, consistent viewpoint: anti-abortion and anti-death penalty.

I am pro-choice and anti-death penalty. But I do think that Catholics are being (arguably) consistent, here.

by Anonymousreply 53December 24, 2024 3:43 AM

Well R49 if you're a Christian you can slide back and forth between old and new testament. It truly is a convenient religion.

by Anonymousreply 54December 24, 2024 4:00 AM

Last week Grampa gave away more student loan freebies---which is a fuck you to people who actually paid off their student loans. Now he is ignoring jury verdicts. Pardoning his son wasn't enough?

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by Anonymousreply 55December 24, 2024 4:17 AM

Well, R55, if Trump had respected a jury verdict he might be serving his own sentence in NY.

by Anonymousreply 56December 24, 2024 4:21 AM

R56 ------->>> Thinks EVERYTHING is about Trump. Even when it isn't.

by Anonymousreply 57December 24, 2024 4:24 AM

Americans are warped about state-sanctioned killing. Pro life indeed.

by Anonymousreply 58December 24, 2024 4:55 AM

Biden really is SENILE! Prison sentences don’t have JOBS, they don’t NEED to commute! Get him out of the offal office asap!

by Anonymousreply 59December 24, 2024 5:00 AM

A large dildo

by Anonymousreply 60December 24, 2024 5:42 AM

r51 demands more context

[quote]The decision sparked relief and gratitude not only for the men of federal death row, but also for members of the public who had urged Biden to commute. Donnie Oliviero, a police officer from Columbus, Ohio, whose partner had been killed by Daryl Lawrence, one of the men whose sentence was commuted by Biden, said in a statement provided after the fact that “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.” Gary Mohr, the former director of the Ohio Department of Corrections, added that he was “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.”

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by Anonymousreply 61December 24, 2024 10:45 AM

R61 = I think the SUFFERING of the police officers elderly parents (and widow and daughter) outweigh whatever the fuck "Gary Mohr, the former director of the Ohio Department of Corrections" feels. .......Sometimes a story DOESN'T "demand more context"

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by Anonymousreply 62December 24, 2024 4:58 PM

Yes, people suffered but the state killing someone heals no one

by Anonymousreply 63December 24, 2024 5:08 PM

i wish I could understand the disconnection of the democratic party with voters, what is going on with this party???????? since when has the party bevone a christian quasi religious party? here in miami, among hispanics, and Im talking about those nasty over religious central americans indios with IQ of a mosquito, non of them are cheering Biden’s decision of pardoning the lide of those criminals. american christian evangelicals are not humanists, they are pro birth but not pro life. this is another nail on Biden’s coffin.

by Anonymousreply 64December 24, 2024 6:30 PM

If Trump’s electoral reputation can survive J6 - & countless other atrocities - I think Biden’s historical reputation can survive whatever temporary outrage exists over these principled commutations.

by Anonymousreply 65December 24, 2024 7:52 PM

Luigi will not be convicted.

by Anonymousreply 66December 24, 2024 8:26 PM

Werner Herzog did a brilliant documentary on capitol punishment called Into the Abyss. It was a perspective I never thought about which came from the executioner when a woman he was escorting to die thanked him, cracking that barrier and connecting their humanity. But. There are crimes so evil the only proportionate response is ending the life of the doer.

by Anonymousreply 67December 24, 2024 10:53 PM

ask yourself this wuestion, why is it yhat they do not use general anesthesia to make them sleep and them inject the lethal injection. they do not want to make it pain free for the convicts, if they want it to they could.

by Anonymousreply 68December 24, 2024 11:37 PM

I knew all the slobbering Luigi elderfans would turn up here, moronically calling for a pre-conviction pardon for their jerkoff fantasy, who, himself, carried out an extra-judicial execution.

by Anonymousreply 69December 24, 2024 11:44 PM

[quote]ask yourself this wuestion, why is it yhat they do not use general anesthesia to make them sleep and them inject the lethal injection. they do not want to make it pain free for the convicts, if they want it to they could.

They cannot obtain the drugs for general anesthesia anywhere. Pharmaceutical companies will not sell drugs to the government for the purpose of executions. Nor will legitimate anesthesia professionals be involved with this. They have to rely on compounded drugs being administered by people with minimal training...which results in so many of the botched executions.

by Anonymousreply 70December 24, 2024 11:49 PM

r70, sweetheart, some people are willing to do just able anything for the right amount. they are some drugs, like the ones thieves use in colombia to rape and assault their victims that knock them out instantly.

by Anonymousreply 71December 24, 2024 11:59 PM

They all deserved their fate. Weird flex.

by Anonymousreply 72December 25, 2024 12:01 AM

Sweetheart, the government isn't allowed to use Colombian date rape drugs for executions.

by Anonymousreply 73December 25, 2024 12:01 AM

I found this Soft White Underbelly interesting. This guy works in a state prison and is responsible for the executions. He looks like a villain, but he came off OK, to me. He seemed like he treated people with respect.

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by Anonymousreply 74December 25, 2024 12:56 AM

the law should allow the victims’s family to decide whether to pardon or execute the killer, not a president or the government.

by Anonymousreply 75December 25, 2024 5:36 AM

Biden commuted this mans sentence. He chopped up a baby after he chopped up her 19 year old mother. Apparently Biden doesn't agree with jurors if they hear the evidence and decide the death penalty is appropriate.

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by Anonymousreply 76December 25, 2024 6:19 AM

Let's face it, someone probably presented him with names and said it would be a good idea to do this. I think Joe has a good heart but his brain has diminished. There are probably shitheads on his staff that take advantage of it.

by Anonymousreply 77December 25, 2024 6:38 AM
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