On the Action by President Biden to Commute 37 Federal Death Row Sentences

Press Statement
By Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy, Executive Director of Catholic Mobilizing Network

Today’s historic decision by President Biden advances the cause of human dignity and underscores the sacred value of every human life. Praise God!

Catholic Mobilizing Network (CMN) believes in the God-given dignity of every person, no matter the harm one has caused or suffered, so we give thanks to God for every life that was spared by President Biden’s action today. This unparalleled action should mark a turning point in our nation’s justice system and serve as a model for leaders at the state level to follow suit.

As we approach a special time of favor with Jubilee 2025, when the Holy Father has called for forgiveness, reconciliation and an end to the death penalty, President Biden — our fellow Catholic — chose mercy by commuting the death sentences of 37 men on federal death row.

Yet while we rejoice that these lives have been spared the cruel and immoral punishment of death at the hands of the federal government, we recognize that today’s decision places the remaining three men on federal death row — while in the appeals process currently — at risk of execution in the future.

At CMN, we bear witness to the incomparable suffering that the families and loved ones of murder victims endure. We hear the cry for justice and accountability that grave harm rightly deserves. Because of our conviction that every person deserves the opportunity to transform hurt and suffering into healing, redemption, and wholeness, we celebrate today’s decision that underscores the sacred value of 37 lives and leaves open the possibility for repair and transformation to the greatest extent possible.

The same problems that led us to call on the president to commute death sentences are present in the cases of those who remain on death row in the United States, including intellectual disability, mental incompetency, racial bias, prosecutorial misconduct, unfair sentencing disparities, innocence and more.

As we move forward, CMN will not waver from our commitment to end the death penalty. Our national network will continue to advocate and act upon the clear teaching of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which states unequivocally that “the Church teaches, in the light of the Gospel, that ‘the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person,’ and she works with determination for its abolition worldwide.” (2267)

The system of capital punishment anywhere leaves in its wake ripples of suffering in families, in communities, and in our social systems. Indeed the death penalty’s very existence epitomizes a throwaway culture. Gratefully, today’s decision will create an opportunity for the federal government to reallocate resources to provide trauma-informed services to the survivors of violent crime.

While we celebrate the distinctive progress that today’s commutation action brings, we will continue to pray fervently that President Biden’s bold move will spur legislative action that ultimately leads to the abolition of the death penalty at every level of government throughout the United States.

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Headquartered in Washington, D.C., Catholic Mobilizing Network is a national organization that mobilizes Catholics and people of goodwill to end the death penalty, advance justice solutions in alignment with Catholic values and promote healing through restorative justice approaches and practices. For more information, visit catholicsmobilizing.org.