Two days before Christmas, President Joe Biden commuted sentences of 37 of the 40 men on federal death row, sparking national debate. A week before this he pardoned his son, Hunter on gun, drug, and tax evasion convictions.
The Christmas clemency spared some of the nation’s most violent criminals from execution. This included at least five child killers and several mass murderers.
According to the White House, this decision aligns with Biden’s effort to “ensure a fair and effective justice system.”
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While most inmates on federal death row saw their sentences reduced to life in prison without parole, three notorious criminals were notably excluded from clemency. These include:
- Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the Boston Marathon bomber responsible for killing three people in 2013.
- Robert Bowers, the gunman who murdered 11 worshippers at a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018.
- Dylann Roof, who killed nine Black churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015.
Among those granted clemency were individuals convicted of heinous crimes.
