Joe Biden commutes the sentences of 37 death row prisoners in the United States

At the beginning of December, more than 130 organizations reminded the outgoing Democratic president of his 2020 campaign commitment against the death penalty.

He was questioned by human rights organizations. American President Joe Biden finally commuted the sentences of 37 death row inmates on Monday, December 23. The individuals concerned had all been convicted by American federal justice, distinct from state justice. This decision comes less than a month before the return to the White House of Donald Trump, a supporter of capital punishment.

“I commute the sentences of 37 of the 40 individuals on federal death row to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole”announced Joe Biden in a press release. “Make no mistake: I condemn these murderers, I mourn the victims of their vile acts, and I grieve for all the families who are suffering unimaginable and irreparable losses.”wrote the president. “But, guided by my conscience and my experience, (…) I am more convinced than ever that we must stop using the death penalty at the federal level”he added.

At the beginning of December, more than 130 organizations, including the powerful civil rights group ACLU or Amnesty International United States, reminded Joe Biden of his 2020 campaign commitment against the death penalty and welcomed the moratorium on executions at the level of federal justice decreed in May 2021 by his government. The organizations had said they feared a “wave of executions” after his successor Donald Trump took office, determined to lift this moratorium.