Washington, DC (November 22, 2024)-- The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), along with several other leading criminal legal defense and human rights organizations, is urging President Biden to use his executive power to commute all federal death sentences, sparing some 40 lives by changing their sentences to life without parole. Such a move would adhere to a Biden campaign pledge to end the federal death penalty.
"The death penalty is a fundamentally flawed system riddled with racial bias, risk of error, and no proven deterrent effect," said Lisa Wayne, Executive Director of NACDL. "We implore President Biden to fulfill his campaign promise and take decisive action to renounce this draconian practice at the federal level."
The letter, co-signed by the Black Public Defender Association, Gideon’s Promise, National Association for Public Defense, National Legal Aid and Defender Association, and Southern Center for Human Rights, highlights the growing opposition to the death penalty in the United States. It cites data showing disproportionate application against minorities and the poor, as well as a lack of deterrent effect on crime.
The organizations also point to the increasing isolation of the United States on the world stage as more countries abandon capital punishment. They urge President Biden to act before the incoming administration resumes executions.
"This President can exercise compassion coupled with his extraordinary power in commuting all federal death sentences to life sentences," concluded Wayne. "President Biden has the opportunity to cement his legacy as a leader committed to human rights and justice."
Read the letter: https://www.nacdl.org/Document/LetterBidenCommuteFederalDeathSentences-11222024
Jonathan Hutson, NACDL Senior Director of Public Affairs and Communications, 202-480-5343 or jhutson@nacdl.org
The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers is the preeminent organization advancing the mission of the criminal defense bar to ensure justice and due process for persons accused of crime or wrongdoing. A professional bar association founded in 1958, NACDL's many thousands of direct members in 28 countries – and 90 state, provincial and local affiliate organizations totaling up to 40,000 attorneys – include private criminal defense lawyers, public defenders, military defense counsel, law professors and judges committed to preserving fairness and promoting a rational and humane criminal legal system.
