{"id":28790,"date":"2024-12-24T04:28:31","date_gmt":"2024-12-24T09:28:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/?p=28790"},"modified":"2024-12-24T04:28:31","modified_gmt":"2024-12-24T09:28:31","slug":"joe-biden-reduces-all-but-three-us-federal-death-sentences-to-life-imprisonment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2024\/12\/24\/joe-biden-reduces-all-but-three-us-federal-death-sentences-to-life-imprisonment\/","title":{"rendered":"Joe Biden reduces all but three US federal death sentences to life imprisonment"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Joe Biden has announced he is changing the sentences of 37 of the 40 people on death row in America to life imprisonment.<\/p>\n<p>The US president made the announcement weeks before\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/news.sky.com\/topic\/donald-trump-5711\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Donald Trump<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0takes office after his victory in November&#8217;s presidential election.<\/p>\n<p>President\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/news.sky.com\/topic\/joe-biden-7848\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Biden<\/strong><\/a>&#8216;s announcement spares the lives of people convicted of killings and those involved in deadly bank robberies or drug deals.<\/p>\n<p>Only three federal inmates still face execution &#8211; Dylann Roof, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Robert Bowers.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sdc-article-widget sdc-article-image\">\n<figure class=\"sdc-article-image__figure\">\n<div class=\"sdc-article-image__wrapper\" data-aspect-ratio=\"16\/9\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sdc-article-image__item\" src=\"https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/21\/12\/768x432\/skynews-dylann-roof-charleston_5602453.jpg?20211202174927\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1024px) 1024px, 100vw\" srcset=\"https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/21\/12\/384x216\/skynews-dylann-roof-charleston_5602453.jpg?20211202174927 380w, https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/21\/12\/768x432\/skynews-dylann-roof-charleston_5602453.jpg?20211202174927 760w, https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/21\/12\/1600x900\/skynews-dylann-roof-charleston_5602453.jpg?20211202174927 1024w, https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/21\/12\/2048x1152\/skynews-dylann-roof-charleston_5602453.jpg?20211202174927 2048w\" alt=\"Dylann Roof became the first person in America to be sentenced to death for a federal hate crime in 2017. Pic: REUTERS\/POOL\/File Photo\/File Photo\" \/><\/div><figcaption class=\"ui-media-caption\"><span class=\"ui-media-caption__caption-text\">Dylann Roof. (<span class=\"u-hide-visually\">Image:<\/span> Reuters)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Roof carried out the 2015 racist killings of nine black members of Mother Emanuel AME Church in<strong>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/news.sky.com\/topic\/south-carolina-5752\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">South Carolina<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Tsarnaev carried out the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, which killed three people and injured more than 260.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sdc-article-widget sdc-article-image\">\n<figure class=\"sdc-article-image__figure\">\n<div class=\"sdc-article-image__wrapper\" data-aspect-ratio=\"16\/9\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sdc-article-image__item\" src=\"https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/24\/12\/768x432\/skynews-dzhokhar-tsarnaev-boston_6784132.jpg?20241223144937\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1024px) 1024px, 100vw\" srcset=\"https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/24\/12\/384x216\/skynews-dzhokhar-tsarnaev-boston_6784132.jpg?20241223144937 380w, https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/24\/12\/768x432\/skynews-dzhokhar-tsarnaev-boston_6784132.jpg?20241223144937 760w, https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/24\/12\/1600x900\/skynews-dzhokhar-tsarnaev-boston_6784132.jpg?20241223144937 1024w, https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/24\/12\/2048x1152\/skynews-dzhokhar-tsarnaev-boston_6784132.jpg?20241223144937 2048w\" alt=\"Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Pic: US Attorney's Office in Boston\/Reuters\" \/><\/div><figcaption class=\"ui-media-caption\"><span class=\"ui-media-caption__caption-text\">Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. (<span class=\"u-hide-visually\">Image:<\/span> US Attorney&#8217;s Office in Boston\/Reuters)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Bowers killed 11 members of the congregation at\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/news.sky.com\/topic\/pittsburgh-shooting-7836\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Pittsburgh<\/strong><\/a>&#8216;s Tree of Life Synagogue in a 2018 shooting &#8211; the deadliest antisemitic attack in the country&#8217;s history.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sdc-article-widget sdc-article-image\">\n<figure class=\"sdc-article-image__figure\">\n<div class=\"sdc-article-image__wrapper\" data-aspect-ratio=\"16\/9\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sdc-article-image__item\" src=\"https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/23\/06\/768x432\/skynews-robert-bowers-shooting-synagogue_6189423.jpg?20230616172558\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1024px) 1024px, 100vw\" srcset=\"https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/23\/06\/384x216\/skynews-robert-bowers-shooting-synagogue_6189423.jpg?20230616172558 380w, https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/23\/06\/768x432\/skynews-robert-bowers-shooting-synagogue_6189423.jpg?20230616172558 760w, https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/23\/06\/1600x900\/skynews-robert-bowers-shooting-synagogue_6189423.jpg?20230616172558 1024w, https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/23\/06\/2048x1152\/skynews-robert-bowers-shooting-synagogue_6189423.jpg?20230616172558 2048w\" alt=\"Robert Bowers. Pic: AP\" \/><\/div><figcaption class=\"ui-media-caption\"><span class=\"ui-media-caption__caption-text\">Robert Bowers. (<span class=\"u-hide-visually\">Image:<\/span> AP)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>President Biden said his career had been dedicated to &#8220;reducing violent crime and ensuring a fair and effective justice system&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Today, I am commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 individuals on federal death row to life sentences without the possibility of parole,&#8221; the president added.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;These commutations are consistent with the moratorium my administration has imposed on federal executions, in cases other than terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In his presidential campaign in 2020, his website said he would &#8220;work to pass legislation to eliminate the death penalty at the federal level&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>As president, Mr Biden said he was &#8220;more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>He added: &#8220;In good conscience, I cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Mr Trump has previously made calls to expand executions.<\/p>\n<p>The president-elect has said those caught selling drugs should receive the death penalty &#8220;for their heinous acts&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Campaigners had called on President Biden to make it more difficult for the incoming president to increase the use of capital punishment when he takes office on 20 January.<\/p>\n<p>His announcement follows the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/news.sky.com\/story\/president-biden-issues-pardon-for-son-hunter-claiming-he-was-unfairly-prosecuted-on-gun-and-tax-charges-13265098\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>recent pardon Mr Biden granted his son<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0Hunter on federal gun and tax charges.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"sdc-article-widget sdc-article-image\">\n<figure class=\"sdc-article-image__figure\">\n<div class=\"sdc-article-image__wrapper\" data-aspect-ratio=\"16\/9\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sdc-article-image__item\" src=\"https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/24\/12\/768x432\/skynews-us-donald-trump_6781023.jpg?20241220080057\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1024px) 1024px, 100vw\" srcset=\"https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/24\/12\/384x216\/skynews-us-donald-trump_6781023.jpg?20241220080057 380w, https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/24\/12\/768x432\/skynews-us-donald-trump_6781023.jpg?20241220080057 760w, https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/24\/12\/1600x900\/skynews-us-donald-trump_6781023.jpg?20241220080057 1024w, https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/24\/12\/2048x1152\/skynews-us-donald-trump_6781023.jpg?20241220080057 2048w\" alt=\"Donald Trump. Pic: Reuters\" \/><\/div><figcaption class=\"ui-media-caption\"><span class=\"ui-media-caption__caption-text\">Donald Trump could seek to undo President Biden&#8217;s actions. (Image: Reuters)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Donnie Oliverio, a retired police officer from\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/news.sky.com\/topic\/ohio-5685\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Ohio<\/strong><\/a>, whose partner was killed by one of the men whose death sentence was converted, said an execution &#8220;would have brought me no peace&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Oliverio added that the president had done what was &#8220;right&#8221; and &#8220;consistent with the faith he and I share&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Source: \u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/sky-news-logo-1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/sky-news-logo-1.png\" alt=\"Sky News\" width=\"100\" height=\"20\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/news.sky.com\/story\/joe-biden-reduces-all-but-three-us-federal-death-sentences-to-life-imprisonment-13279312\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news.sky.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\">Joe Biden has announced he is changing the sentences of 37 of the 40 people on death row in America to life imprisonment. The US president made the announcement weeks before\u00a0Donald Trump\u00a0takes office after his <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2024\/12\/24\/joe-biden-reduces-all-but-three-us-federal-death-sentences-to-life-imprisonment\/\" title=\"Joe Biden reduces all but three US federal death sentences to life imprisonment\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28791,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[109,2,3],"tags":[1679,285,3205,6609],"class_list":{"0":"post-28790","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headline","8":"category-news","9":"category-usa","10":"tag-capital-punishment","11":"tag-donald-trump","12":"tag-executions","13":"tag-joe-biden","14":"pmpro-has-access"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28790"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28790\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28792,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28790\/revisions\/28792"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}