Staff Reports
Joe Biden has done it again, and this time he’s stirring the pot by commuting the death sentences of 37 federal inmates to life in prison. This peculiar decision has set off a firestorm of discontent, particularly among the families of victims who have had the unfortunate task of navigating the pain while the Biden administration shows its leniency.
The family of bank teller Donna Major, who was heartlessly murdered during a robbery in 2017, made their voices heard after Biden’s latest act of compassion for the criminals. Her husband, Danny Jenkins, wasn’t shy about expressing his outrage. Jenkins recounted how the perpetrator, Brandon Council, walked into the CresCom Bank in South Carolina with a gun and a clear intent to kill. Describing the brutal scene, he explained that his wife was gunned down without warning, like a deer in headlights—which is a far cry from the treatment Biden seems to reserve for criminals.
Add this to Biden’s legacy of shame and horror. Donna Major’s husband and daughters speak out on Biden’s commuting the death sentence of the man who murdered her…
pic.twitter.com/GnPb2Zdd3d— NanLee Marie Carissimi (@NanLee1124) December 24, 2024
Jenkins’s heartbreak was palpable as he lamented Biden’s decision to grant clemency to the man who wreaked havoc on his and countless other lives. It seems that for one man in power, the plight of victims is merely an afterthought, and a word of consideration doesn’t even make the cut. Jenkins articulated the frustration shared by many, calling the decision shocking and disrespectful to those who continue to suffer the aftermath of violence.
But the bewildering path Biden has chosen doesn’t stop there. He has encountered similar backlash for previous pardons, including one granted to former Luzerne County Judge Michael T. Conahan. This judge, it turns out, traded the lives of juveniles for over $2 million in kickbacks. Remarkably, due to the fallout from his actions, a mother named Sandy Fonzo tragically lost her son after he was sentenced by Conahan. Her response to the pardon offers yet another indication of the discontent, as she labeled the move a slap in the face to families like hers.
Biden’s actions raise eyebrows about the priorities of a leader who seems to favor clemency for criminals over empathy for victims’ families. Commuting death sentences for violent offenders while ignoring the anguish of those they harmed suggests a perplexing moral compass, leading many to wonder, how does this rehabilitate society? While the left champions these decisions as progressive reforms, it’s hard to ignore that, for many families left in the rubble of such decisions, it feels more like adding salt to a festering wound.
