President Biden is taking the step of commuting the sentences of nearly all the inmates on federal death row, a significant move that comes less than two weeks after the “largest single-day grant of clemency” in American history, the White House confirmed on Monday.
Out of the 40 inmates on federal death row, as reported by DeathPenaltyInfo.org, Biden is commuting the sentences of 37 men convicted to death, changing their sentences to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
The three inmates not included are: Robert Bowers, responsible for the mass shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in 2018 that claimed 11 lives; Dylann Roof, a White supremacist who killed nine Black parishioners at Emanuel AME Church in 2015; and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, involved in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing that resulted in three deaths and hundreds of injuries.
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President Biden is commuting the sentences for 37 of the 40 convicted murderers on federal death row, reclassifying them to life in prison without parole ahead of the Trump administration taking over.
(Reuters/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo)
The men being resentenced to life in prison without parole are convicted of various murderous acts against one person or multiple victims, including law enforcement officers, children, and other inmates.
Some of the men on death row were also scheduled for execution along with their accomplices.
Biden, who supports the death penalty at the federal level only for “terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder,” stated that this action will prevent the incoming administration from carrying out executions that would not meet current policy and practice standards, according to a statement from the White House.
The president put a hold on federal executions upon taking office in 2021.
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The convicted murderers now avoiding execution include individuals like Marcivicci Barnette, who killed a man and his ex-girlfriend; co-defendants Brandon Basham and Chadrick Fulks, who kidnapped and murdered a woman after escaping prison; Anthony Battle, responsible for the killing of a prison guard; Jason Brown, convicted of stabbing a postal worker to death; Thomas Hager, involved in a drug-related murder; David Runyon, part of a murder-for-hire plot targeting a Naval officer; Thomas Sanders, who kidnapped and killed a 12-year-old girl; Rejon Taylor, who carjacked, kidnapped, and killed a restaurant owner; and Alejandro Umana, who murdered two brothers inside a restaurant.
The federal prison complex in Terre Haute, Indiana, houses most of the convicted murderers on America’s federal death row.
(AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)
Two men were on death row for murdering witnesses: police officer Len Davis, who ordered the killing of a witness involved in an investigation against him, and Ronald Mikos, who murdered a federal grand jury witness in a Medicare fraud case.
Ex-Marine Jorge Torrez faced execution for killing another servicemember.
The list also includes men involved in deadly bank robberies, like co-defendants Billie Allen and Norris Holder, who killed a bank guard during a robbery; Brandon Council, responsible for the deaths of two bank employees; and Daryl Lawrence, who killed a special-duty police officer during an attempted bank robbery.
This Sept. 12, 2017 booking photo from the Florence County Detention Center shows Brandon Council, sentenced to death for killing two bank employees during a bank robbery.
(Florence County Detention Center via AP)
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Co-defendants James Roane, Jr., and Richard Tipton were involved in a series of drug-related murders as gang members alongside Corey Johnson, executed in 2021.
Julius Robinson and co-defendants Ricardo Sanchez, Jr., and Daniel Troya each killed two people over drugs.
Drug lord Kaboni Savage murdered or ordered the murder of 12 individuals over 16 years, including an arson that resulted in the deaths of six members of a federal informant’s family.
Philadelphia drug lord Kaboni Savage was convicted of committing or directing 12 murders, including one that involved firebombing the home of a federal witness. Four children and two adults were killed in the act.
(FBI)
Edward Fields was on death row for murdering two campers on federal land, while Marvin Gabrion and Richard Jackson were both convicted of killing a woman on federal land in separate incidents.
Co-defendants Jurijus Kadamovas and Iouri Mikhel were found guilty of kidnapping and murdering five Russian and Georgian immigrants for ransom.
Finally, the following men received death sentences in various cases for killing a prisoner in federal prison: Shannon Agofsky, Carlos Caro, co-defendants Wesley Coonce and Charles Hall, co-defendants Christopher Cramer and Ricky Fackrell, Joseph Ebron, and co-defendants Edgar Garcia and Mark Snarr.
Monday’s commutations add to Biden’s previous similar actions during his presidency, which have elicited mixed reactions from lawmakers and have exceeded any modern president in terms of actions taken during the same period.
Biden faced criticism recently for commuting the sentences of nearly 1,500 prisoners placed on home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic and pardoning 40 others, including his son, Hunter.
