Following late December Biden death sentence commutations, Attorney General Pam Bondi ordered a death row inmates ADX transfer, moving eight former prisoners to the Colorado supermax facility on Tuesday. The inmates are the first group of 37 whose federal death sentences were commuted.
The Justice Department expects to move all 37 of the inmates to the high-security facility. The transfers are part of an effort by Bondi to adjust the inmates’ “conditions of confinement” to be consistent with the security risks they present.
Bondi Orders Death Row Inmates ADX Transfer
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi criticized the clemency, stating, “President Biden’s decision to commute the death sentences of these monsters showed abhorrent disregard for our justice system.” She said the action showed “total disrespect for victims’ families already suffering through immense loss.“
After meeting with families earlier this year, Bondi confirmed the transfers. “This will ensure that they spend the remainder of their lives in conditions consistent with the egregious crimes they committed,” she stated.
What is ADX Supermax Prison?
The U.S. Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility, or ADX, is the only federal “supermax” prison in the United States.
Located in Florence, Colorado, it is designed to hold inmates considered the most dangerous and in need of the highest level of control.
Notable inmates at the facility include Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and al-Qaeda co-founder Mamdouh Mahmud Salim. It also holds Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, the former head of the Sinola Cartel.
Context of Biden Death Sentence Commutations
The transfers follow the late December commutations of 37 federal inmates, each convicted of first-degree murder. The clemency actions were criticized for a lack of proper vetting, with some victims’ families expressing shock at the decision.
The families reported they had not been given a heads-up by the Biden administration. The eight inmates transferred this week include one convicted of murdering a married couple in Ouachita National Forest and another convicted of murdering a local bank president.
Future Transfers and Conditions of Confinement
In February, Bondi issued a memo to the Bureau of Prisons ordering an evaluation of where the commuted inmates should be detained. Because a commutation cannot be reversed, her focus remains on the prisoners’ confinement conditions.
More transfers are expected to occur within weeks. The Justice Department anticipates moving all remaining former death row prisoners to the ADX facility by early next year.
