By Arden Farhi
/ CBS News
President Biden is granting clemency to 37 of the 40 federal inmates facing death sentences. Their sentences will be commuted to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The three inmates who didn’t get clemency are the convicted murderer in the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting, the gunman at Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston, and the surviving Boston Marathon bomber.
The announcement is sure to spark partisan debate, even though presidential commutation and pardon power are broad, constitutionally enshrined and irreversible.
The Justice Department instituted a moratorium on executions in 2021 so it could review policies and procedures.
President-elect Trump has said he would resume executions and perhaps attempt to expand the crimes that qualify for capital punishment.
Mr. Biden appeared to allude to Trump’s stated intention in a statement announcing the commutations when he said, “In good conscience, I cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted.”
He also said,”These commutations are consistent with the moratorium my Administration has imposed on federal executions, in cases other than terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder.
“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.
“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.”
American Civil Liberties Union Executive Director Anthony D. Romero lauded Mr. Biden’s move, saying in a statement that he “took a historic and courageous step in addressing the failed death penalty in the United States – bringing us much closer to outlawing the barbaric practice once again. … President Biden has taken the most consequential step of any president in our history to address the immoral and unconstitutional harms of capital punishment. … This will undoubtedly be one of the seminal achievements of the Biden presidency.”
Ed O’Keefe contributed to this report.
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Arden Farhi is the senior White House producer at CBS News. He has covered several presidential campaigns and the Obama, Trump and Biden administrations. He also produces “The Takeout with Major Garrett.”
