U.S. Rep. Cori Bush, D-Missouri, and Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Massachusetts, led 35 of their fellow House Democrats in sending a letter Friday to President Joe Biden to commute all 49 people sentenced to death.
“As members of Congress, we stand ready to work with you on your commitment to rebuilding the dignity of America,” the letter stated. “We believe that rebuilding the dignity of America requires that we recommit ourselves to the tradition of due process, mercy, and judicial clemency when it comes to matters related to the criminal legal system. For this reason, we urge you to immediately commute the sentences of all those on death row.”
In support of the effort, St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell announced he also signed a letter, along with more than 100 advocates, asking Biden to commute the death sentences.
“By not granting clemency and commuting sentences, the lives of 49 Americans on death row are left vulnerable to political tides and heady partisanship,” Bell wrote in a statement. “These 49 people can be spared with no loss of accountability — if anything, the credibility of our justice system will be strengthened by removing the most barbaric vestiges of our nation’s history.”
While the Obama administration halted federal executions in 2015 by placing a moratorium on the federal death penalty, a statement released by Bush and Pressley noted the Trump administration abruptly announced it was reversing the moratorium in July 2019 and moving forward with the first execution in 17 years.
On the day of Trump’s announcement, Pressley introduced legislation to abolish the federal death penalty and resentence all individuals on death row ━ Bush joined her and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, in reintroducing that bill, H.R. 262, this month.
Thirteen people were executed during the Trump administration.
The representatives’ letter to Biden can be viewed in its entirety online at https://bit.ly/3sOM0Mc and the second letter signed by Bell can be viewed online at https://bit.ly/362EXWg.