President Joe Biden commuted 37 of the 40 federal death sentences

US President Joe Biden has commuted the sentences of 37 out of 40 federal death row inmates, converting their sentences to life imprisonment without parole.

The three people excluded from the measure include the Boston Marathon bomber and the man who killed Jewish worshipers in 2018.

In a statement, Biden said he is “more convinced than ever that we must end the use of the death penalty at the federal level.” His measure does not include the more than 2,000 people sentenced to death by state authorities.

Biden’s decision comes before the January return of President-elect Donald Trump, who resumed federal executions while he was in office.

Among those pardoned by Biden are nine people convicted of killing fellow inmates, four for murder during a bank robbery and one for killing a prison guard.

“Make no mistake: I condemn these murderers, grieve for the victims of their vile actions, and grieve for all the families who have endured unimaginable and unimaginable losses. cannot compensate,” Mr. Biden added.

Disgraced former New Orleans police officer Len Davis, who ran a drug ring involving other officers and arranged the murder of a woman, is among those who have been granted clemency.

Billie Allen, who has been on federal death row for 27 years, said he felt “very relieved” after Biden’s sentence was commuted.

Allen was convicted of killing a security guard during a bank robbery in Missouri in 1997. He always maintained his innocence.

Speaking to the BBC’s Radio 4 World Tonight program from Terra Haute prison in Indiana, Allen said prisoners were “very happy to no longer have to face death” when they learned of the decision.

“You have to realize that when you face death every day, to have that burden lifted off your shoulders is a huge relief.”

Asked about the anger expressed by some victims’ families at the decision, Allen said: “I understand that for some people the death penalty is justice… but the people here say they will take this opportunity to do better, to be better – so maybe they can take some solace in that.”

Heather Turner, whose mother Donna Major was shot to death during a bank robbery in South Carolina in 2017, said she was “hurt” and “very disappointed” that the killer’s death sentence was commuted.

Turner told the BBC’s World Tonight programme: “I feel this decision was made without regard for the victims and their families.

“Making this decision, especially at Christmas, is heartbreaking.”

“Justice doesn’t just get it right. It gets the consequences right. And I believe that the consequence of murder is death,” Turner said, adding that she thought Biden’s decision was “well political motive”.

The three remaining prisoners on death row include Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who helped carry out the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, and white supremacist Dylann Roof, who shot and killed nine black people. church in Charleston, South Carolina in 2015.

Robert Bowers, who killed 11 Jewish worshipers in a 2018 mass shooting at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue, will also remain on death row.

Biden campaigned as an opponent of the death penalty, and the Justice Department issued a federal ban on its use after he became president.

During his first term in office, Trump oversaw 13 death by lethal injection during his final six months in office.

No federal prisoners were executed in the US since 2003 until Trump resumed federal executions in July 2020.

During his re-election campaign, Trump said he would expand the use of the death penalty to include human and drug traffickers, as well as migrants who kill American citizens.

Biden appeared to address Trump’s intentions in his statement when he said he could not “in good conscience — step back and let the new administration resume the executions I have paused.”

Under US law, the president’s successor cannot reverse these clemency decisions.

The president’s announcement was criticized by some Republicans.

Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas said on X, formerly Twitter, that the Democratic Party “is the party of politically expedient justice” after news of the switch became public.

“Once again, the Democratic Party is on the side of depraved criminals over their victims, public order and common decency,” he said.

Biden’s decision will not affect people sentenced to death in state courts. about 2,250 prisoners according to the Death Penalty Information Center. More than 70 state executions have been carried out during Biden’s presidency.

The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 US states. Six other states, including Arizona, California, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Tennessee, have moratoriums in place.

Earlier this month, Biden commuted the sentences of nearly 1,500 people and pardoned 39 more people convicted of nonviolent crimes.

He also pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, who was facing sentencing for two criminal cases. He pleaded guilty to tax evasion in early September and was convicted of illegal drug use and gun possession in June – becoming the first child of a sitting president to be convicted.

The US Constitution provides that the president has “broad power to grant pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment”.