commutation

A blanket commutation would realize Mr. Biden’s anti-death-penalty stance and move the United States further along the path to abolition.

The commutation of federal death row sentences could be a defining feature of Mr. Biden’s legacy of, as he describes it, restoring “the soul of the nation.”

“Unlike previous commutations I’ve granted to individuals who have demonstrated extraordinary growth and rehabilitation,” she explained, “this commutation is not based on any rehabilitative efforts by the individuals on death row. Instead, it reflects the recognition that the death penalty is immoral. It is an irreversible punishment that does not allow for correction; is wasteful of taxpayer dollars; does not make communities safer; and cannot be and never has been administered fairly and equitably.”

To offer one other example, Biden could learn from what Republican Illinois Gov. George Ryan did in 2003 when he emptied his state’s death row by issuing a blanket commutation to all 167 inmates.

These issues, along with the injustice of a government putting anyone to death, provide ample reason for Biden to issue a mass commutation.