U.S. Bishops Call for Biden to Spare Federal Death Row Prisoners Before Leaving Office, by Jonah McKeown

CNA Staff, Dec 9, 2024 / 13:40 pm – The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) on Monday launched a campaign urging Catholics to contact outgoing President Joe Biden and ask him to commute the death sentences of the 40 men currently on federal death row to life in prison.

“President Biden has an extraordinary opportunity to advance the cause of human dignity by commuting all federal death sentences to terms of imprisonment and sparing the lives of the 40 men currently on federal death row,” the bishops wrote on a webpage that provides a contact form for Biden.

The bishops of the United States have, as a body, been calling for an end to the federal death penalty since 1980 when they released a statement calling for its abolition, just a few years after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed executions to resume in the country. Biden, a Catholic, called for an end to the use of the federal death penalty as a candidate for president, but that marked a departure from his previous political positions and actions. …