This morning, the White House announced that President Biden has commuted the death sentences of 37 of the 40 federal death row inmates. I wonder whether the President has ignored the rights and interests of crime victims' family members in granting mass commutations.
The Justice Department does have in place an announced policy for processing requests for executive clemency in capital cases. Under the Department's "Rules Governing Petitions For Executive Clemency sec. 1.10/Procedures Applicable to Prisoners Under a Sentence of Death Imposed by a U.S. District Court," victims' families (like a death row inmate's representatives) are supposed to generally have an opportunity to make a presentation to the Office of the Pardon Attorney before clemency is granted:
(c) The petitioner's clemency counsel may request to make an oral presentation of reasonable duration to the Office of the Pardon Attorney in support of the clemency petition. The presentation should be requested at the time the clemency petition is filed. The family or families of any victim of an offense for which the petitioner was sentenced to death may, with the assistance of the prosecuting office, request to make an oral presentation of reasonable duration to the Office of the Pardon Attorney.
