On December 23, 2024, President Biden commuted the sentences of 37 of the 40 men on federal death row to life without parole. This commutation, the largest number of people commuted from federal death row in US history, was supported by more than 130 civil and human rights groups, including hundreds of faith leaders, victim families, exonerees, law enforcement officials, prosecutors, and judges.
A Statement from Executive Director Hillary Taylor:
“This morning, we at SCADP celebrate the commutations issued by President Biden. These acts of clemency are historic, and part of President Biden’s legacy will be that of a leader who stood for racial justice, humanity, and morality. The federal death penalty – just like South Carolina’s capital punishment systems – is error prone, racially biased, drains public resources, and does not deter crime or do anything to make our communities safer. With today’s actions, President Biden has done more than any president in history to address capital punishment’s immoral and unconstitutional harms. Biden has taken away Trump’s power to oversee another execution spree – but more importantly, he’s helped set the U.S. on a different course. The brutal and inhumane policies of our past do not belong in our future.”
“Although we had hoped President Biden would commute all federal death sentences, today's milestone adds to the growing momentum across the country to end the death penalty once and for all. SCADP remains committed to abolishing the death penalty and catalyzing criminal justice reform in South Carolina, and we are resolved to continue this progress and build a more humane, moral and racially just future.”
Support for the death penalty has been declining steadily and reaching record lows. A recent Gallup poll in November found that support for the death penalty is the lowest it’s been in 50 years, with a majority of millennials and Generation Z in opposition.
Comments