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January 8, 2025, Adrian, Michigan – The General Council of the Adrian Dominican Sisters wrote to President Joe Biden, praising him for commuting the sentences of 37 men on Federal Death Row to life in prison without the possibility of parole, and further encouraged him in his last days of office to commute the sentence of the remaining three men on Federal Death Row and four men on Military Death Row. The letter reads as follows.

January 8, 2025

President Joe Biden
The White House 
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20500 

Dear Mr. President,

As you prepare for your visit on Friday with Pope Francis, we write on behalf of the Adrian Dominican Sisters to extend our deep gratitude to you for your principled decision to commute the sentences of 37 men on federal death row to life in prison without possibility of parole. As Catholic women of faith who believe in the inherent dignity of all human beings and the sacred value of life, we have long opposed the death penalty. 

We ask that in your final days in office, you extend that commutation to the remaining three men on federal death row and the four men on military death row. We believe that heinous acts of violence must be addressed resolutely by our system of justice – not by acts of violence that debase our nation and burden individual civil servants with carrying out executions.

We ask that you bring a decisive end to the practice of capital punishment in your term as President. We pray that this moral act will be a prelude to our nation’s return to the league of nations, a majority in the world, that have abolished state executions.

Sincerely,

Sisters Elise D. García, OP, Prioress; Bibiana “Bless” Colasito, OP, and Frances Nadolny, OP, General Councilors; Lorraine Réaume, OP, Vicaress and General Councilor; and Corinne Sanders, OP, General Councilor.

General Council of the Adrian Dominican Sisters