December 23, 2024
MacArthur Justice Center’s Statement on President Biden’s Federal Death Penalty Commutations
We welcome the fulfillment of President Biden’s promise to commute the death sentences of 37 people on federal death row. The federal death penalty – just like state capital punishment systems – is racist, error-prone, drains public resources, and does not deter crime or make our communities safer. We encourage President Biden to finish the job by commuting the remaining three federal death sentences and the four military death sentences, and we press the executives of the remaining death penalty jurisdictions to follow the Biden Administration’s lead. Today’s historic commutations add to the growing momentum across the country to end capital punishment. It is a step in the right direction toward a more humane and racially just future.