President Joe Biden commuted the sentences of almost all prisoners on federal death row, a move he said was consistent with the moratorium his administration has imposed on federal executions.
The commutations did not include people sentenced to death for terrorism or 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,” Biden said in a statement on Monday morning.
He went on to say, “I am more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level. In good conscience, I cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted.”
What does it mean to commute a sentence?
In this case, 37 people who had been sentenced to death have had their sentences reduced and reclassified to life sentences without the possibility of parole.
Were any of Biden’s death row commutations from Arizona?
No, there were no inmates on federal death row from Arizona.
Does this affect people who were sentenced to death in Arizona?
No, the commutations only applied to those on federal death row, not in individual states. Arizona has more than 100 people on death row.
Upon taking office in early 2023, Gov. Katie Hobbs and Attorney General Kris Mayes halted executions while an outside reviewer Hobbs hired assessed lethal injection protocols in Arizona. In 2022, after an eight-year pause, Arizona put three men to death. State officials struggled to administer lethal injections in all three cases.
But in late November, Hobbs fired the reviewer she had hired and said she thought the Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry was prepared to resume executions. She based that conclusion on an assessment from the Corrections Department.
Mayes also said she was satisfied executions could resume and started the process of seeking a death warrant for Aaron Gunches. Executions could restart in Arizona in 2025.
Who remains on federal death row?
Biden commuted sentences of 37 of the 40 individuals who were on federal death row, excluding three people who were sentenced for terrorism or hate-motivated mass murder.
The three men whose sentences were not commuted were 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.
Why did Biden commute the sentences?
When Biden took office, he imposed a moratorium on federal executions. The commutation of the 37 sentences will prevent President-elect Donald Trump from resuming executions for individuals that would not have been carried out under the current administration’s policy. During Trump’s first term, 13 federal executions took place, the first federal executions in 17 years, according to USA TODAY.
USA TODAY contributed reporting.
Reach the reporter at cvanek@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter @CorinaVanek.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: What to know: Biden commutes sentences of most on federal death row