Washington: US President-elect Donald Trump slammed outgoing President Joe Biden’s decision to commute the sentences of 37 individuals on federal death row.
“Joe Biden just commuted the Death Sentence on 37 of the worst killers in our Country. When you hear the acts of each, you won’t believe that he did this. Makes no sense,” Trump said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social.
Trump’s remarks came one day after Biden made the announcement that he was commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 individuals on federal death row to life sentences without the possibility of parole, Xinhua news agency reported.
“Make no mistake: I condemn these murderers, grieve for the victims of their despicable acts, and ache for all the families who have suffered unimaginable and irreparable loss,” Biden said in a statement.
“But guided by my conscience and my experience as a public defender, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Vice President, and now President, I am more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level,” Biden said.
“In good conscience, I cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted,” said the outgoing President.
In another post Tuesday, Trump said that as soon as he is inaugurated, he will direct the Justice Department to “vigorously pursue the death penalty” to protect American families and children from “violent rapists, murderers, and monsters.”
“We will be a Nation of Law and Order again!” Trump said.
The commutations are only for the 37 facing federal death penalty and not in the States. There are in all — including those on death row in the states — 2250 prisoners on death row across the US, according to the Death Penalty Information Centre, a non-profit organisation that says its mission is to serve the media, policymakers, and the general public with data and analysis on issues concerning capital punishment and the people it affects.
(IANS)
