Published on: Friday, January 22, 2021

More than 35 members of Congress - all Democrats - signed a letter asking President Biden to commute the sentences of the remaining 50 people on federal death row, as they slammed the execution spree that closed out Trump's presidency. During former President Trump’s tenure, 13 prisoners were put to death in six months, including three in his final days in office.

The letter, signed by 35 lawmakers in total, urged President Biden "to take swift, decisive action" to commute the sentences of the people on federal death row, calling it a "crucial first step in remedying this grave injustice."

During his campaign, Biden said that as president, he would 'work to pass legislation to eliminate the death penalty at the federal level and incentivize' states to do the same. 

Death sentences, the members of Congress said, aren't about "justice" but instead are rooted in "who has institutional power and who doesn't."

"Like slavery and lynching did before it, the death penalty perpetuates cycles of trauma, violence and state-sanctioned murder in Black and brown communities," Democrats said. "With the stroke of the pen, you can end the death penalty and establish a clear commitment to justice and equity."

Along with issuing mass commutations for the 50 people on federal death row, the Democratic members of Congress pushed Biden to take a "series of meaningful actions" to ensure no future president can continue federal executions. Those measures include dismantling death row at Terre Haute, a federal correctional complex in Indiana and calling on Congress to pass the Federal Death Penalty Prohibition Act to "end the death penalty once and for all."

There are currently 50 people on federal death row, including a man whose death sentence was overturned Tuesday in a ruling that could be appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit by the Justice Department.