Biden has commuted 37 death sentences—but not that of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

The death sentences have been replaced with life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

Biden's decision does not apply to three individuals convicted of "hate-fueled mass murders." Among them are Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, convicted for the bombing during the Boston Marathon in 2013, as well as Robert Bowers, who carried out a shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue, and Dylann Roof, sentenced for the murder of nine people at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston.

Before Donald Trump's inauguration, the outgoing president, whose term ends in less than a month, is systematically reviewing federal-level decisions, replacing the death penalty with life imprisonment.

In a published statement, Biden expressed that he is "increasingly convinced that it is necessary to abolish the death penalty at the federal level." However, the majority of death sentences in the U.S. are handed down at the state level. Currently, the number of individuals sentenced to death across various states exceeds 2,000, with several dozen death sentences typically carried out each year.

The statement notes that the president empathizes with crime victims and does not dispute that criminals deserve severe punishment. Nevertheless, Biden remains an opponent of the death penalty at the federal level. Following his assumption of office in 2021, a moratorium was imposed on the execution of death sentences issued by federal courts. During Trump’s first term, 13 individuals sentenced by federal courts were executed. Trump stated that his future administration would resume carrying out death sentences.

In December, Biden commuted around 1,500 prison sentences and pardoned 39 Americans. Among them was his son Hunter, who was awaiting sentencing for illegal possession of a firearm and tax evasion.

• The victims of the bombings during the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013, included three people, and more than 260 were injured. The court found that the attacks were carried out by brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who are ethnic Chechens. Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed in a shootout with police.
• Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was sentenced to death in 2015, and several of his appeals have since been rejected. He is currently held in a maximum-security prison in Florence, Colorado, which is also known as "the Alcatraz of the Rockies."

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