Death Row Clemency Letter
December 8, 2024
President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. best to email https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/share/
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20500
Dear President Biden:
You alone have the power to show Americans how mercy and justice are intrinsic values that our country cherishes. By using your pardon power to commute the death sentences of those on federal death row to sentences of life in prison without the possibility of parole, you can grant mercy not only to the 40 men currently on federal death row, but in a larger sense, to everyone involved in the macabre “corrections” system and to all of us.
Your decision in July 2021 to impose a moratorium on federal executions was a welcomed sign that your long-standing opposition to capital punishment reflected the growing consensus within the church and civil society that the death penalty is both morally flawed and ineffective in promoting justice. Today, 55% of the 40 people on federal death row are people of color, while accounting for only 13% of the U.S. population. Federal death sentences are concentrated in a handful of states –Texas, Virginia, and Missouri alone account for 43% of current federal death sentences.
There is strong precedent for commuting death sentences. Since 1976, governors in eight states have commuted all death sentences under their authority, often citing systemic concerns. New Mexico Governor Toney Anaya commuted the death sentences of five prisoners on the state’s death row in 1986 because he “consistently opposed capital punishment as being inhumane, immoral, anti-God, and incompatible with an enlightened society.” In 1991, Ohio Governor Richard Celeste commuted the death sentences of eight death row prisoners. In 2003, Illinois Governor George Ryan cleared the state’s death row, commuting 167 death sentences to life in prison due to many wrongful convictions and systemic concerns about the fairness of the state’s death penalty system. Ahead of New Jersey’s abolition of the death penalty in 2007, Governor Jon Corzine commuted the death sentences of the eight individuals remaining on the state’s death row. Governor Martin O’Malley commuted the death sentences of four prisoners still on Maryland’s death row in 2015, after the legislature’s prospective abolition of capital punishment in 2013. In 2020, Colorado Governor Jared Polis commuted the death sentences of the three prisoners still on the state’s death row after the legislature’s prospective abolition of capital punishment. In December 2022, former Oregon Gov. Kate Brown commuted the sentences of all 17 men on her state’s death row. [Death Penalty Information Center]
The Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) joins many others, including the Federal Capital Habeas Project, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Catholic Mobilizing Network, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the Black Public Defender Association, the National Association for Public Defense, the National Legal Aid and Defender Association, and the Southern Center for Human Rights, to urge you to commute the death sentences of the 40 men currently on death row. We also urge Attorney General Merrick Garland to conclude his ordered review of the federal death penalty policies and procedures, withdraw the federal execution protocol, and order the immediate dismantling of the death chamber at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana.
Sincerely,
Alan Minsky
President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. best to email https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/share/
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20500
Dear President Biden:
You alone have the power to show Americans how mercy and justice are intrinsic values that our country cherishes. By using your pardon power to commute the death sentences of those on federal death row to sentences of life in prison without the possibility of parole, you can grant mercy not only to the 40 men currently on federal death row, but in a larger sense, to everyone involved in the macabre “corrections” system and to all of us.
Your decision in July 2021 to impose a moratorium on federal executions was a welcomed sign that your long-standing opposition to capital punishment reflected the growing consensus within the church and civil society that the death penalty is both morally flawed and ineffective in promoting justice. Today, 55% of the 40 people on federal death row are people of color, while accounting for only 13% of the U.S. population. Federal death sentences are concentrated in a handful of states –Texas, Virginia, and Missouri alone account for 43% of current federal death sentences.
There is strong precedent for commuting death sentences. Since 1976, governors in eight states have commuted all death sentences under their authority, often citing systemic concerns. New Mexico Governor Toney Anaya commuted the death sentences of five prisoners on the state’s death row in 1986 because he “consistently opposed capital punishment as being inhumane, immoral, anti-God, and incompatible with an enlightened society.” In 1991, Ohio Governor Richard Celeste commuted the death sentences of eight death row prisoners. In 2003, Illinois Governor George Ryan cleared the state’s death row, commuting 167 death sentences to life in prison due to many wrongful convictions and systemic concerns about the fairness of the state’s death penalty system. Ahead of New Jersey’s abolition of the death penalty in 2007, Governor Jon Corzine commuted the death sentences of the eight individuals remaining on the state’s death row. Governor Martin O’Malley commuted the death sentences of four prisoners still on Maryland’s death row in 2015, after the legislature’s prospective abolition of capital punishment in 2013. In 2020, Colorado Governor Jared Polis commuted the death sentences of the three prisoners still on the state’s death row after the legislature’s prospective abolition of capital punishment. In December 2022, former Oregon Gov. Kate Brown commuted the sentences of all 17 men on her state’s death row. [Death Penalty Information Center]
The Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) joins many others, including the Federal Capital Habeas Project, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Catholic Mobilizing Network, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the Black Public Defender Association, the National Association for Public Defense, the National Legal Aid and Defender Association, and the Southern Center for Human Rights, to urge you to commute the death sentences of the 40 men currently on death row. We also urge Attorney General Merrick Garland to conclude his ordered review of the federal death penalty policies and procedures, withdraw the federal execution protocol, and order the immediate dismantling of the death chamber at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana.
Sincerely,
Capital punishment is immoral and shameful.
The Death Penalty SHOULD NOT be used too easily — it’s far too likely that innocent people can be swept into it!
This looks great, very comprehensive.