Did Biden pardon 37death row inmates
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Executive summary
President Joe Biden commuted the federal death sentences of 37 of the 40 people on federal death row on Dec. 23, 2024, converting their punishments to life imprisonment without parole; three federal inmates — including Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Dylann Roof — were left on federal death row because their cases involved terrorism or mass murder [1] [2] [3]. The White House framed the move as a near-total emptying of federal death row and consistent with Biden’s long-standing opposition to federal capital punishment, while critics called the action politically motivated and promised legal and prosecutorial responses [4] [1] [5] [6].
1. What actually happened: commutation, not a blanket pardon
Biden’s action was a commutation of sentence — a reduction from death to life in prison without parole — for 37 federal inmates; it did not pardon them or erase their convictions, nor did it affect state death row inmates [1] [7] [2]. The Justice Department and White House fact sheet described the policy as targeted to exclude cases involving terrorism and mass murder and as intended to prevent scheduled federal executions [4] [3].
2. How journalists and official sources reported the size and scope
Mainstream outlets and government records consistently reported “37 of 40” federal death-row commutations, noting that the three left on death row were tied to mass- or terror-related crimes [1] [2] [8] [3]. The White House fact sheet and the Office of the Pardon Attorney list the measures among a broader clemency effort that also included roughly 1,500 commutations related to COVID-era home confinement and 39 pardons for nonviolent offenses [4] [8].
3. What this did — and did not — change in practice
The commutations removed the federal government’s ability to carry out executions on those 37 cases; they did not prohibit states from pursuing death sentences for separate state convictions, nor did they retroactively alter convictions or criminal records [1] [2]. Reporting makes clear that roughly 2,100–2,250 people remained under state death sentences, which are beyond the president’s authority [9] [2].
4. Political reactions: predictable division
Supporters and death-penalty opponents hailed the move as consistent with Biden’s moratorium on federal executions and corrective of racial and procedural inequities in federal capital prosecutions [9] [4]. Opponents, including some Republican lawmakers, described the move as politically motivated and called for condemnation or state-level prosecutions; Senator Tom Cotton and others framed the commutations as sparing “murderers” and singled out high-profile victims to criticize the decision [5] [6]. Media outlets documented both praise and sharp objections in the immediate aftermath [1] [10].
5. Follow-up actions and consequences reported later
After the commutations, the Justice Department under a subsequent administration and some state prosecutors pursued ways to address public safety and accountability: reports say some commuted inmates were transferred to high-security “supermax” facilities and that U.S. and state officials explored charging some individuals on state-level capital counts [10] [6]. The Justice Department said conditions of confinement would reflect “security risks” and that commutations cannot be reversed, even if prosecutors seek state charges [10] [6].
6. Records and data sources backing the claim
Multiple independent outlets and government pages corroborate the number and nature of the action: PBS, NPR, BBC, People, NPR and the White House fact sheet all report 37 commutations of federal death sentences on Dec. 23, 2024; the Office of the Pardon Attorney’s listings provide the administrative record of Biden’s commutation and pardon actions [1] [8] [2] [7] [4] [11].
7. Limits of available reporting and lingering questions
Available sources do not mention whether any of the 37 commuted inmates have had state-level capital charges ultimately re-filed and resulted in death sentences, nor do they provide a complete public accounting of every individual’s post-commutation placement and management beyond sampled reporting of transfers to supermax facilities [10] [6]. Also, while many outlets explain the policy rationale and political context, assessments of long-term public-safety outcomes remain absent in the cited reporting [4] [1].
Bottom line: reporting across government releases and mainstream outlets consistently supports the factual claim that Biden commuted the sentences of 37 federal death-row inmates (not pardoned them) while leaving three federal death sentences intact; reactions and downstream legal maneuvers were divided and remain ongoing in coverage [1] [4] [3].