By Ashlee Banks
Special to the AFRO
Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.-07) led a press conference on “Human Rights Day” where she and her congressional colleagues called on President Joe Biden to exercise his clemency authority to commute the death sentences of individuals currently on federal death row.
On Dec. 10, 2024, Pressley said that “state-sanctioned murder” is not justice.
“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,” the Massachusetts lawmaker said in a statement obtained by the AFRO. “With the incoming administration planning to execute the 40 individuals on death row, we’re calling on the President to…commute their death sentences and resentence them to a prison term.”
Pressley’s advocacy comes at a time when racial disparities in the justice system continue to raise alarms, particularly regarding the disproportionate number of Black individuals on death row.
U.S. Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.-1) joined Pressley in her call for clemency.
“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,” Bush said in a statement.
“There is currently a backlog of thousands of clemency petitions awaiting approval and behind each one of those petitions is a person,” the Democratic lawmaker added. “Despite pledges by the president to reduce the federal prison population, it has only grown in recent years.”
The call for clemency is particularly poignant given the stark statistics surrounding death row sentencing. According to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Black individuals are disproportionately represented on death row, comprising over 40 percent of the population despite making up only 13 percent of the U.S. population. This disparity raises critical questions about racial bias in the judicial system and the need for comprehensive reform.
Recently, Pressley teamed up with Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), to reintroduce the Federal Death Penalty Prohibition Act of 2023, which aims to abolish the federal death penalty and require the re-sentencing of those already on death row.
As part of her ongoing commitment to criminal justice reform, Pressley has introduced several other pieces of legislation aimed at transforming the clemency system in the United States. In June 2023, she reintroduced the People’s Justice Guarantee, while in December 2021, she unveiled the Fair and Independent Experts in Clemency (FIX Clemency) Act. Both initiatives aim to tackle the systemic issues contributing to mass incarceration and the inequities present in the clemency process.
While Biden has yet to answer the calls of Democratic lawmakers, he has, however, taken action recently and granted clemency to 39 people and commuted the sentences of nearly 1,500 others.
Pressley said this was a “meaningful” and “historic” move.
“President Biden is changing the lives of nearly 1,500 people and ensuring they can remain in community with their loved ones,” she said. “People on home confinement are disproportionately elderly, chronically ill, pose no threat to public safety, and have successfully reintegrated into their communities.”
However, Pressley emphasized the urgent need for systemic reform in the criminal justice system, particularly for marginalized groups disproportionately affected by harsh sentencing laws. She said she hopes Biden will not only commute sentences but also foster a more equitable legal framework that aligns with the principles of justice and human rights for all.
“It is the right thing to do, it is the moral thing to do,” said Pressley, “and it is a matter of legacy.”
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