Biden commutes sentences of 37 murderers on death row

President Biden on Monday will commute the sentences of nearly all of the 40 murderers on the federal government’s death row, in another move to thwart President-elect Donald Trump’s stated goals.

Under Mr. Biden’s order 37 of the 40 men on federal death row — all of whom had been convicted of murder — would have their sentences reduced to life imprisonment without parole.

The move, which is not reviewable by courts or reversible by the next president, would prevent Mr. Trump from repeating his first-term performance, when he carried out a record number of federal executions. 

The move grants clemency to a rogues gallery of notorious killers, including five men who murdered children, nine who slaughtered their fellow inmates, and one who killed a prison guard with a hammer while serving a life sentence for murdering his U.S. Marine wife.