Pressley Has Urged Biden to Use Clemency to Address Mass Incarceration, and Led Efforts to Abolish Federal Death Penalty

Press Conference | Photos

WASHINGTON – Today, on Human Rights Day, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) joined colleagues and advocates for a press conference to renew their calls for President Biden to use his clemency authority to commute the death sentences of the 40 individuals on federal death row and resentence them to a prison term. Joining Congresswoman Pressley at the press conference were Congresswoman Cori Bush (MO-01) and representatives from the American Civil Liberties Union, Death Penalty Action, Campaign to Free Billie Allen, and Witness to Innocence.

Last month, Congresswoman Pressley, along with Reps. James E. Clyburn and Mary Gay Scanlon, sent a letter to President Biden urging him take clemency action before leaving office, and she reiterated that call following the President’s use of his pardon authority last week.

Last year, Congresswoman Pressley and Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) reintroduced the Federal Death Penalty Prohibition Act of 2023, bicameral legislation to prohibit the use of the death penalty at the federal level and require re-sentencing of those currently on death row.

“State-sanctioned murder is not justice, and President Biden has an opportunity and an obligation to save lives and make good on his campaign promise to address the federal death penalty before leaving office,” said Congresswoman Pressley. “With the incoming Administration planning to execute the 40 individuals on death row, we’re calling on the President to use his clemency authority to commute their death sentences and resentence them to a prison term. This is about saving lives and doing away with a cruel, racist, and fundamentally flawed punishment that has been disproportionately weaponized against Black, brown and low-income families for far too long. We urge the President to act and shape his legacy as a compassionate leader who uses his power for healing, not harm.”

“Mass incarceration has devastated communities like St. Louis, with inhumane arrests and sentencing policies and a racist war on drugs that have disproportionately targeted and locked up Black and brown folks,” said Congresswoman Cori Bush (M)-01). “There is currently a backlog of thousands of clemency petitions awaiting approval, and behind each one of those petitions is a person. Despite pledges by the President to reduce the federal prison population, it has only grown in recent years. President Biden has an opportunity and an obligation to reduce the federal prison population and make good on his campaign promise to address the systemic injustices of mass incarceration before leaving office. With the stroke of a pen, the President can offer these individuals the dignity and redemption they deserve. We urge him to act now.”

“It is time to abolish the death penalty, a cruel, racist and flawed punishment that has no place in our society, and we are standing united to urge executive clemency to address these longstanding injustices faced in our legal system,” said Congressman Adriano Espaillat. “The death penalty is a flawed punishment and has been disproportionately weaponized against African American, Latino, and low-income families for far too long. A justice system concerned with the wellbeing of law-abiding citizens should not sentence people to death, and this is an opportunity to rectify the injustices created by the criminal legal system and correct these wrongs.”

“We call on President Biden to begin to change the course of history and establish a lasting legacy of racial justice by commuting the sentences of those on federal death row,” said Cynthia W. Roseberry, Director of Policy and Government Affairs at the ACLU’s Justice Division. “Racial discrimination permeates every single stage of the criminal legal process, and the federal death penalty is no exception. President Biden must live up to his commitment to racial justice and his promise to abolish the federal death penalty, and he can do so by using his constitutional authority to spare the lives of 40 men. Thank you Representatives Pressley and Bush for your work to abolish the federal death penalty, which gives us strength in moments like these.”

“Death Penalty Action is grateful for the leadership of Representative Pressley and her staff. We have been collaborating since before she introduced the Federal Death Penalty Prohibition Act in 2020. Now we are standing together to demand that President Biden act further to prevent injustices by the incoming Trump Administration,” said Abe Bonowitz, Director, Death Penalty Action. “If President Biden does not commute all federal and military death sentences, he will be condoning and enabling what could become the largest mass execution spree since the days of the Indian wars. Donald Trump has promised to expand the federal death penalty and carry our numerous executions. On this we must believe him. President Biden, please act now.”

“If we truly believe every life is precious and every lost soul can be found, how can the death penalty stand in a just country? Capital punishment is our most lethal example of systemic injustice, disproportionately applied to people of color and poor people, but especially when applied to innocent people like Billie Allen,” said Gbenga Akinnagbe, writer, activist, and ambassador for the campaign to Free Billie Allen. “The wrongful conviction and sentencing of Billie Allen to death when he was just 19 years old is why President Biden must commute death row, and why he must grant Billie a pardon.”

“35 years later, I’m still suffering from the consequences of a wrongful conviction, and I’m here today to ask President Biden to please consider commuting to sentence all peoples on United States death row,” said Shujaa Graham, Exoneree, Witness to Innocence. “Commuting their sentences will make our nation a better nation. Commuting their sentences will make the criminal justice system a less violent system. So today, my friends, I ask you all to continue to do the work, the work that will free people like myself from the cruel and unjust reality of the death penalty. We have had the death penalty for so many years in our society, and it solved no social problem, so continue to fight to end capital punishment in the United States and all over the world. Abolition today, abolition tomorrow, abolition forever.”

“The death penalty is a direct contradiction to the Gospel. Many people ask—WWJD, what would Jesus do? But we know what Jesus did. He showed mercy. He interrupted an execution and blessed the merciful,” said Shane Claiborne, co-founder of Red Letter Christians. “The question before us today is what would Joe Biden do? We are asking President Biden to show mercy—to commute the federal sentences and demolish the federal execution chamber.”

“President Biden has a deep rooted relationship with Black faith communities and FLOCC represents more than 500+ Black faith leaders, conventions, congregations and convocations in America,” said Joia Thornton, Founder and Director of the Faith Leaders of Color Coalition (FLOCC). “Commuting the federal death row would be an incredible milestone for those who believe life has value, mercy is encompassing and grace covers a multitude of sin.”

Footage of the press conference is available here and photos are available here.

Rep. Pressley has been an outspoken advocate for abolishing the federal death penalty, and her legislation with Senator Durbin is informed by her People’s Justice Guarantee, a comprehensive, decarceration-focused resolution that outlines a framework for a fair, equitable and just legal system.

• In January 2023, Rep. Pressley and Senator Durbin submitted a comment letter in response to a Department of Justice (DOJ) Request for Information (RFI) regarding the regulations governing federal executions. 
• In March 2022, Rep. Pressley issued a statement condemning the Supreme Court’s reinstatement of the death penalty in the Dzhokhar Tsarnaev case, urging passage of the Federal Death Penalty Prohibition Act, and calling on President Biden to take executive action to halt federal executions, commute the sentences of those on death row, and more.
• In May 2021, Rep. Pressley announced that the Federal Death Penalty Prohibition Act now has the support of over 90 Members of Congress and 265 national and grassroots organizations across the country.
• In January 2021, Congresswoman Pressley and Congresswoman Cori Bush (D-MO) led more than 35 of their House colleagues in sending a letter to President Biden calling on him to commute the sentences of every person on federal death row. 
• Later that month, Congresswoman Pressley and Reps. Adriano Espaillat (NY-13) and Robin Kelly (IL-02) wrote to then-Attorney General-nominee Judge Merrick B. Garland urging him to prioritize President Biden’s commitment to working with Congress to end the federal death penalty and incentivizing states to end capital punishment across the country. 
• In December 2020, Congresswoman Pressley led 41 of her House colleagues and three Representatives-Elect on a letter calling on President-Elect Joe Biden to end the use of the federal death penalty on his first day in office.
• In November 2020, Congresswoman Pressley and Senator Durbin, along with Senators Patrick Leahy and Cory Booker, wrote to Attorney General Bill Barr calling for a halt on all scheduled federal executions during the presidential transition period.
• In July 2019, Rep. Pressley and Senator Dick Durbin introduced bicameral legislation to prohibit the use of the death penalty at the federal level and require re-sentencing of those currently on death row. The legislation was reintroduced in 2021.

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