Trump Promises to Broaden Death Penalty Following Biden’s Commutation of 37 Federal Death Row Sentences

December 24, 2024 TruthUSA

The Biden administration has made a concerted effort to move away from the death penalty, advocating for life sentences without the possibility of parole.

On December 24, President-elect Donald Trump announced that he intends to instruct the Department of Justice (DOJ) to seek the death penalty for the most egregious violent offenders.

This statement followed just a day after outgoing President Joe Biden commuted the sentences of 37 individuals on death row to life imprisonment, including several convicted of mass murder and child homicide.

In his initial response, Trump criticized Biden’s decision to grant these commutations, all of which were to murder offenders, asserting in a post on Truth Social that the families and friends of the victims have been “further devastated” by this act. He further declared his commitment to enhancing justice for victims of violent crime and expanding capital punishment.

“Upon my inauguration, I will instruct the Justice Department to aggressively pursue the death penalty to shield American families and children from violent rapists, murderers, and other monsters,” Trump stated in his post. “We will restore Law and Order in our Nation!”

In addition to conveying a tough-on-crime stance for his administration, Trump’s comments indicate a desire to implement legal reforms aimed at reinstating the death penalty for certain crimes, including rape.

However, a 1977 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Coker v. Georgia deemed the death penalty unconstitutional for rapes involving adult victims who survived the assault, a ruling later narrowed to exclude surviving child victims by a decision in Kennedy v. Louisiana in 2008.

This is not the first occasion Trump has indicated plans to broaden capital punishment’s applications and lift the federal execution moratorium established by Biden. Throughout his presidential candidacy, he expressed intentions to reverse this moratorium and expand the categories of crimes eligible for the death penalty, including those related to child sexual assault and drug and human trafficking.

During his initial term, the federal government executed 13 individuals after resuming federal executions in 2020, which had been paused for 17 years. This represented the largest number of federal executions carried out under a single president since the 1950s, demonstrating Trump’s long-held commitment to combat crime aggressively.

In contrast, the Biden administration continues to advocate for a shift away from the death penalty, favoring life sentences without the possibility of parole for nearly all offenses.

In a statement on December 23, Biden explained that his decision to commute sentences was driven by his dedication to ending the federal death penalty, which he believes undermines a fair and effective legal system.

“These commutations align with the moratorium my Administration has instituted on federal executions, except in cases involving terrorism and hate-driven mass killings,” Biden remarked.

“Let me be clear: I denounce these criminals, mourn for the victims of their heinous acts, and empathize with all the families enduring immeasurable loss. However, based on my conscience and experience as a public defender, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Vice President, and now President, I am increasingly convinced that the death penalty should be abolished at the federal level.

“I cannot, in good conscience, allow a new administration to resume executions that I have halted.”

Biden’s decision to commute the sentences of these convicted murderers incited outrage among many conservatives, while the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) applauded the action, citing that it was in line with requests from over 130 civil and human rights organizations, faith leaders, exonerees, family members of victims, and law enforcement officials encouraging action on federal death row cases.

“President Biden has affirmed the importance of redemption over retribution and underscores that state-sanctioned killing does not enhance our safety,” stated Anthony Romero, executive director of the ACLU. “The ACLU has long opposed the death penalty, highlighting its fundamental issues: it is prone to errors, racially biased, and a significant drain on public resources.”

Opponents of the death penalty, including the ACLU, argue that it fails to act as a substantial deterrent against violent crime and that the high expenses linked to capital trials and extended appeals could be more effectively allocated towards crime prevention and victim assistance.

Proponents of capital punishment contend that it provides a means of ultimate justice for atrocious crimes, offers closure to the families of victims, and that the financial costs associated with executions are a necessary investment to uphold justice and deter potential offenders.

On December 23, Biden commuted the sentences of 37 out of 40 inmates on death row. The three federal inmates remaining under the threat of execution include Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, convicted for the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing; Dylann Roof, who killed nine individuals at a South Carolina church in 2015; and Robert Bowers, who killed 11 congregants at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue in 2018.

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