WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden on Monday commuted the death sentences of 37 of 40 federal inmates, taking action ahead of the return of Donald Trump who oversaw a sweeping number of lethal injections during his first term. With less than a month left in office, Biden had faced growing calls from death penalty opponents to commute the sentences of those on death row to life in prison without parole, which the 37 will now serve.
The move leaves only a handful of high-profile killers who acted out of hate or terrorism facing the federal death penalty -- for which there has been a moratorium under Biden. "These commutations are consistent with the moratorium my Administration has imposed on federal executions, in cases other than terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder," Biden said in a statement. "I am commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 individuals on federal death row to life sentences without the possibility of parole," he said. — AFP
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