Biden Disregards Crime in His Last Days of Office

President Joe Biden shockingly commuted the death sentences of 37 of the 40 convicted felons on federal death row. These prisoners will now serve life sentences without the chance for parole.

Biden put out a statement about the death row pardons:

Today, I am commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 individuals on federal death row to life sentences without the possibility of parole. These commutations are consistent with the moratorium my Administration has imposed on federal executions, in cases other than terrorism and 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.

But guided by my conscience and my experience as a public defender, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Vice President, and now President, 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.

Don’t forget that most of these prisoners are murderers who have committed unspeakable crimes. So why did Biden try to slide this latest head-scratcher under the radar during Christmas?

Now, to be fair, a genuine debate remains about the use of the death penalty in the United States – even among both conservatives and the far Left. However, Biden’s decision does not reflect a serious response to that debate. Biden could have commuted these sentences much earlier but inexplicably chose to do it at the last minute before exiting the White House.

ACLJ Senior Counsel and Director of Policy Harry Hutchison offered his thoughts on Biden’s cowardly decision:

He offers, arguably, an inconsistent explanation for commuting the death penalty for death row inmates. . . . Where was Joe Biden two years ago, three years ago, four years ago? He had the opportunity to commute these sentences much earlier. . . . None of these prisoners were innocent, and there’s no evidence of innocence that could potentially justify a commutation. . . . Biden has basically offered a commutation clemency festival. Keep in mind on December 12, he offered clemency to 1,500 inmates. He recently pardoned his son Hunter. And now he’s offering a commutation for 37 death row inmates, notwithstanding the fact that the victims’ families have gone through a trial and sentencing phase. And he basically says to the victims’ families, I don’t care about your sense of justice.

At the very least, Biden should have met with the families of the victims to get their input. But that’s probably asking too much of the outgoing President at this time.

We are nearing the end of 2024, during which the ACLJ was involved in hundreds of cases for the constitutional rights of Americans:

• 175 pro-life matters
• 197 free speech matters
• 142 religious liberty matters
• 126 legal actions battling the Deep State

And though a conservative Administration is taking over in January, we still have major work ahead of us. ACLJ Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow expounded further:

This has been true over many years: You’ll see that even with an Administration that would be more friendly – obviously in this situation with incoming President Trump – the fact is that the bureaucrats are entrenched. And if you look at some of our biggest fights, we were in the middle of them, and I remember when it went from President Obama to President Trump, we had the IRS targeting cases. And ultimately, it took a while for everybody to catch up to speed. Still, we were able to get that case resolved successfully for our client because we utilized the benefit of having lawyers who were taking a fresh look at this now within the government who acknowledged the wrongdoing of the Internal Revenue Service.

Likewise, the ACLJ hopes to secure justice for our FBI whistleblower clients with a new FBI Director and U.S. Attorney General taking over. But the fight still continues regardless.

With your help, we can keep fighting in 2025 in courtrooms across the country, even all the way to the Supreme Court. Make a Tax-Deductible gift to defend the cornerstones of our nation – faith and freedom – and it will be TRIPLED through our Faith & Freedom Year-End Drive.

Today’s Sekulow broadcast included a full analysis of President Biden’s baffling pardons and commutations of 37 inmates on death row. ACLJ Senior Advisor for National Security and Foreign Policy Ric Grenell reacted to an op-ed in The Hill calling for lawmakers to stop President Trump from taking office.

Watch the full broadcast below: