Two US death row inmates refused Biden's pardon

Two inmates of the US correctional facility in Terre Haute, Indiana, sentenced to death, refused a pardon from the President of the country Joe Biden. NBC News reported on January 7.

"Shannon Agofsky and Len Davis <...> on December 30 filed emergency motions in the federal court for the southern district of the state [Indiana], seeking an injunction to commute their death sentences to life in prison without parole," - stated in the material.

It is noted that the men are trying to appeal the judgments based on claims of innocence, and that commuting their sentences would put them at a "legal disadvantage."

"To commute his sentence now, when the defendant is actively prosecuting, is to deprive him of the defense of heightened scrutiny. It creates an undue burden and places the defendant in a position of fundamental unfairness that will negate his upcoming appellate proceedings," the station quoted Agofsky as saying.

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The outgoing US president's decision was not supported even by fellow party members

Earlier, Biden commuted the sentences of 37 death row inmates on Dec. 23, 2024. The White House specified that the sentences will be reclassified to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. The head of state believes that the United States at the federal level should stop using the death penalty, except in cases of terrorism and mass killings motivated by hatred.

Later, Reuters said that US President-elect Donald Trump harshly condemned and called disgusting the US president's decision to pardon prisoners. He added that it was a slap in the face for the victims, their families and loved ones. On December 24, the politician added that after his inauguration in January, he was going to seek the death penalty for rapists and murderers. He added that the United States would once again become a "law and order state."