President Joe Biden announced Monday he is commuting the sentences of nearly every inmate on federal death row, a decision aimed at preventing executions when President-elect Donald Trump takes office again.
Biden had pledged to end the death penalty during his presidential campaign, while Trump has floated expanding the death penalty.
While the 37 individuals whose sentences were commuted will not face execution, they are set to remain behind bars for the rest of their life.
So what does a commuted sentence mean? Here is what you need to know in light of Biden’s announcement.
Who are Roof, Bowers, Tsarnaev?These three remain on federal death row after Biden commutations
A sentence commutation reduces the severity of the sentence.
Under Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution, the president “shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.”
A pardon and a commutation of sentence are both ways for the president to grant leniency to someone who has committed a federal crime. A pardon implies that the convicted person has taken responsibility for their actions and is forgiven by the president. It can restore some civil abilities that would otherwise be barred due to the criminal conviction, according to the Department of Justice.
Commuting a sentence does not change the conviction, imply innocence or change any civil disabilities that may apply to the convicted individual.
The president’s power to issue a pardon or commute a sentence applies only to federal offenses. Therefore, prisoners sentenced to death by their states are not affected by Biden’s move.
Currently, 27 states still use the death penalty, while 23 states have abolished it and five states are holding executions based on gubernatorial action, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
As of January 2024, there were nearly 2,200 prisoners facing the death penalty in state cases, according to the center, which states the death row population has been declining over the last 20 years.
Here are the 37 federal death row inmates who had their sentences commuted, along with their states and conviction details via the Death Penalty Information Center.
Not included on the list was Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was convicted in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing that killed three people and injured more than 260 people, Robert Bowers, convicted in the 2018 Tree of Life synagogue mass shooting in Pittsburgh that left 11 people dead, and Dylann Roof, who was convicted in the 2015 Charleston, South Carolina, mass shooting at Mother Emanuel African American church that left nine dead.
Contributing: Francesca Chambers
Kinsey Crowley is a trending news reporter at USA TODAY. Reach her at kcrowley@gannett.com, and follow her on X and TikTok @kinseycrowley.
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