Biden commutes sentences of 37 inmates on death row

He also issued a full and unconditional pardon of his son Hunter, after repeatedly insisting he would not do so. Hunter Biden had pleaded guilty to tax violations and was convicted on firearms-related charges.

The decision issued on Monday does not apply to cases of terrorism or hate-motivated mass murder.

It leaves out three of the most well-known men on federal death row: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, convicted for his involvement in the bombing at the Boston Marathon finish line in 2013; Dylann Roof, convicted for the shooting spree at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina in 2015; and, Robert Bowers, who was convicted for the mass shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018.

All three men have filed appeals and legal challenges to their sentences which must be resolved before an execution date can be set, a process that can take years.

Biden’s decision also does not affect the nearly 2200 death row prisoners convicted in state courts, as he holds no authority over such executions.