Two Death-Row Inmates Reject Biden Clemency

Joe Biden had hoped to take all but three death-row inmates off death row by offering them clemency.

A total of 37 of 40 death row inmates had their death penalties changed to life in prison thanks to Joe.

Well, two prisoners have said no thanks, refusing to sign the paperwork that would allow them to live out their days behind bars without the threat of heading into the chamber.

Denied

Shannon Agofsky and Len Davis, both inmates at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, have filed court motions to block their clemency.

Both believe that the clemency would put their appeals at risk, so they are not willing to sign the paperwork to put the order in effect.

Agofsky's filing stated, "To commute his sentence now, while the defendant has active litigation in court, is to strip him of the protection of heightened scrutiny. This constitutes an undue burden, and leaves the defendant in a position of fundamental unfairness, which would decimate his pending appellate procedures.”

Davis "has always maintained that having a death sentence would draw attention to the overwhelming misconduct" of the DOJ.

Their motions may be for naught, however, as there is legal precedence on this.

There is a Supreme Court ruling from 1927 that ruled "the convict's consent is not required” for presidential pardons or clemency, and I doubt the current court would overturn that decision.

Considering the topic, there is no way the liberal justices would budge, and I just don’t see three of the conservative justices willing to flip this decision. My guess would be a 6-3 or 5-4 ruling to keep the precedent in place.

Agofsky was convicted in 1989 for the murder of Dan Short, who was a bank manager, where he and his brother stole $71,000. He received his death sentence for killing a fellow inmate in a Texas prison, stomping him to death.

Davis is a former New Orleans police officer who was convicted for the murder of Kim Groves in 1994. She had filed a complaint against Davis for having allegedly beaten a teenager in her neighborhood.

Prosecutors stated that Davis hired local drug dealers to kill her. His death sentence was initially tossed, but it was reinstated in 2005.