In the US, two prisoners whose death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment are asking not to overturn the death sentence

In the US, two death row inmates whose sentences were commuted by President Joe Biden to life imprisonment without parole have refused to sign the relevant documents.

NBC News writes about this.

Lawyers for the prisoners have filed lawsuits seeking to overturn Bidenʼs executive order against them. The prisoners maintain their innocence and argue that commuting their sentences from death to life in prison will reduce their chances of success on appeal.

As NBC News explains, appeals of death row inmates are always reviewed more carefully to avoid possible miscarriages of justice.

It remains unclear whether it is possible to refuse to commute the death sentence at all and what the courtʼs decision will be on the convictsʼ claims. After all, back in 1927, the US Supreme Court ruled that the prisonerʼs consent to postponement of execution or full pardon is not required.

• In late December 2024, US President Joe Biden commuted the death penalty to life in prison without parole for 37 of the 40 people sentenced to death by US federal courts. Biden advocates for the abolition of the death penalty at the federal level, except in cases of terrorism and hate-motivated mass murders (three of the 40 criminals whose sentences Biden did not commute were convicted of these crimes).

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