Trump vows federal executions after Biden's death penalty commutations

US President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to reinstate federal executions as he criticised President Joe Biden’s decision to commute the death sentences of 37 federal inmates.

Trump made the pledge on his social media platform, Truth Social on Tuesday, stating, “As soon as I am inaugurated, I will direct the Justice Department to vigorously pursue the death penalty to protect American families and children from violent rapists, murderers, and monsters. We will be a Nation of Law and Order again!”

It was in response to Biden’s announcement earlier this week to commute the sentences of 37 of 40 federal death row inmates to life imprisonment without parole, a move the administration described as a step toward a more humane criminal justice system.

The commutations have sparked a national debate about the death penalty’s morality and the balance between justice for victims’ families and the ethics of state-sanctioned executions.

On the campaign trail, Trump often called for expanding the federal death penalty — including for those who kill police officers, those convicted of drug and human trafficking, and migrants who kill US citizens.

“Trump has been fairly consistent in wanting to sort of say that he thinks the death penalty is an important tool and he wants to use it,” said Douglas Berman, an expert on sentencing at Ohio State University’s law school.

“But whether practically any of that can happen, either under existing law or other laws, is a heavy lift.”

Berman said Trump’s statement at this point seems to be just a response to Biden’s commutation.

“I’m inclined to think it’s still in sort of more the rhetoric phase. Just, ‘don’t worry. The new sheriff is coming. I like the death penalty,’” he said.

Most Americans have historically supported the death penalty for people convicted of murder, according to decades of annual polling by Gallup, but support has declined over the past few decades. About half of Americans were in favour in an October poll, while roughly 7 in 10 Americans backed capital punishment for murderers in 2007.

Death row inmates are mostly sentenced by states

Before Biden's commutation, there were 40 federal death row inmates compared with more than 2,000 who have been sentenced to death by states.

A question is whether the Trump administration would try to take over some state murder cases, such as those related to drug trafficking or smuggling. He could also attempt to take cases from states that have abolished the death penalty.