Joe Biden’s Moral Wisdom – The Atlantic

This morning, the White House announced that President Joe Biden has commuted the sentences of 37 men on federal death row to life in prison without parole. The historic move came shortly after a series of pardons and commutations for hundreds of people convicted of nonviolent crimes, as well as Biden’s pardon of his own son. In his official statement, Biden emphasized: “I condemn these murderers, mourn the victims of their heinous acts and mourn all the families who have suffered unimaginable and irreparable losses.” But he said his conscience and experience had left him “more than ever “Convinced that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level.”

The political wisdom of Biden’s lame pardon and commutation anniversary is unclear. I think it’s likely that Republicans will use the details of the crimes of death row inmates to frame Biden and the Democrats as vaguely endorsing torture and murder. Biden himself seemed prepared for this eventuality in his statement, and the recriminations have already begun, although life imprisonment without parole is still a severe punishment: Fair enough; The crimes of these prisoners were evil for the people and left gaps in the lives of many families. Nevertheless, I am convinced by the moral wisdom of Biden’s decision. Biden’s legacy may be tied to allegations of corruption and the apparent cover-up of his deteriorating health, but he has also secured a place in history as a president of certain mercy, all of which testify to the restraint a sovereign owes his people.

Elizabeth Bruenig: In Praise of Mercy

Biden’s decision was a direct response to Donald Trump’s spree of federal executions in 2020, in which then-Attorney General Bill Barr ordered the Federal Bureau of Prisons to resume executions after a 17-year hiatus, and then the deaths of 13 prisoners within six monitored for months. Activists and advocates have recently focused on convincing the president to prevent another round of executions under Trump’s watch. In emailed remarks, Ruth Friedman, director of the Capital Federal Habeas Project, said that “numerous groups and individuals representing a wide range of viewpoints have called on the President to take this important step,” adding that “There was also a formal pardon.” In many cases, the application process occurs through the pardon attorney’s office, and that process includes communication between the DOJ and a range of stakeholders on all sides of the case.” Among those who supported Biden Those urging to commute these sentences included the American Civil Liberties Union, Equal Justice USA, the Innocence Project, the Catholic Mobilizing Network and Pope Francis.

Not every person on federal death row received a commutation. Those who did not were: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, one of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombers; Robert Bowers, the 2018 Tree of Life synagogue shooter; and Dylann Roof, the gunman responsible for the 2015 Charleston, South Carolina, church massacre that left nine people dead. In each case, terrorist violence and targeted mass murder were linked. Although Attorney General Merrick Garland imposed a moratorium on federal executions in 2021, Justice Department lawyers still defended these death sentences in court; In this regard, it was not surprising that Biden would remove her from his commutation list. Still, their cases could remain stuck in court for the duration of Trump’s term, meaning he is unlikely to be able to execute any of these three cases in the coming years.

Mark Osler: The forgotten tradition of grace

The commutations will then eliminate the federal death penalty for a generation. “If you can’t abolish the death penalty legally, that’s how you have to end it in practice,” Robert Dunham, director of the Death Penalty Policy Project, told me. “Proponents of abolishing the death penalty must hope that by the time the next cases reach death row and go through the appeals process, there will be a new Congress and a differently constituted Supreme Court that will seriously address the desirability of the death penalty.” Dunham added that Biden’s moral leadership could allow the country’s governors to weigh their own decisions, such as Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina and Gov. Gavin Newsom of California.

The decision sparked relief and gratitude not only from the men on federal death row but also from members of the public who had urged Biden to commute. Donnie Oliviero, a Columbus, Ohio, police officer whose partner was killed by Daryl Lawrence, one of the men whose sentence was commuted by Biden, said in a statement issued after the fact: “I executed the person who killed my police force .” Partner and best friend would not have brought me peace. The President has done what is right here and what is consistent with the beliefs he and I share. Thank you, Mr. President.” Gary Mohr, the former director of the Ohio Department of Corrections, added that he was “so grateful to President Biden for taking this step to ensure that no federal corrections personnel will be harmed in the foreseeable future , which comes from participating in executions.” For these men and many others both in and out of the fray, Biden has brought a fraction of peace on earth, a measure of gentle mercy — and a welcome hallelujah.