Pressley Has Led Efforts to Abolish Federal Death Penalty, Successfully Urged President Biden to Commute Federal Death Row

BOSTON – Today, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) issued the following statement on Donald Trump’s comments this week that his administration will seek the reinstatement of the death penalty for murder cases in Washington, DC. For years, Congresswoman Pressley has led efforts in Congress to abolish the federal death penalty and successfully urged President Biden to commute the sentences of individuals on death row last year.

“In 1989, Donald Trump paid for multiple ads calling for the execution of five innocent teenagers of color who were coerced and beaten to confess to a murder they did not commit. To this day, he has yet to change his views or apologize to these men—who have since been exonerated—and is now seeking to expand capital punishment in Washington, DC and across the country.

“Like Donald Trump himself, the death penalty is flawed and deeply racist. It is a fundamentally unjust punishment that has no place in any society. It has been disproportionately weaponized against Black and brown communities and failed to make America any safer—which is why we’ve worked persistently to abolish it and successfully partnered with President Biden to re-sentence most of federal death row.

“Rather than militarize our cities, weaponize the federal government to terrorize communities, and continue distracting from his many broken promises, Donald Trump should instead prioritize what actually keeps people safe: community-based, trauma-informed solutions like affordable housing, mental health care, and gun violence prevention programs—the same initiatives he has attacked and defunded since taking office. That’s how we break cycles of violence and build safe, healthy, and thriving communities.”

Since 2019, Congresswoman Pressley has introduced and championed the Federal Death Penalty Prohibition Act, bicameral legislation with Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) to prohibit the use of the death penalty at the federal level and require re-sentencing of those currently on death row.

Congresswoman Pressley has also led calls for President Biden to use his clemency authority to address mass incarceration, commute federal death row, and reunite families. She applauded the President for granting pardons to 39 individuals and commuting the sentences of nearly 1,500 individuals on home confinement, and has encouraged him to continue using that authority. She also commended President Biden for commuting the sentences of 37 individuals on death row and re-sentencing them to life in prison.

Rep. Pressley has been an outspoken advocate for abolishing the federal death penalty and her Federal Death Penalty Prohibition Act 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 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 and 2023.
• In December 2024, on Human Rights Day, Rep. Pressley and advocates renewed their calls for clemency and urged President Biden to commute the death sentences of the individuals on federal death row and resentence them to a prison term.
• In November 2024, Rep. Pressley and her colleagues wrote to President Biden urging him to use his clemency authority to address longstanding injustices in our legal system before taking office, including by granting clemency to those on death row.
• In January 2024, Rep. Pressley and Senator Durbin issued a statement on the Department of Justice’s decision to seek the execution of Payton Gendron, who committed the heinous, racially-motivated mass shooting at a Buffalo supermarket in 2022.
• 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 December 2021, Rep. Pressley and Chair Raskin wrote to the Department of Justice requesting information about whether the DOJ plans to resume federal executions and procure pentobarbital sodium for use in such executions.
• 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.

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