How Two of the 37 Death Row Prisoners Whose Sentences Were Commuted By Joe Biden Are Battling to REJECT Outgoing President’s Clemency
Two death row prisoners are turning down Biden's clemency.
Jan. 7 2025, Published 6:50 p.m. ET
Two of the 37 death row prisoners whose sentences were commuted by Joe Biden have been battling to reject the outgoing president’s clemency.
RadarOnline.com can reveal Shannon Agofsky and Len Davis, both on death row at a federal prison, filed emergency injunctions to block the commutes.
Joe Biden made the shocking announcement before Christmas.
Agofsky and Davis were among the federal prisoners whose death sentences were changed to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Despite the move that is preventing them from facing death, the two are refusing to sign paperwork accepting Biden's clemency action.
According to reports, the prisoners claim that accepting the commutes would make it less likely that courts will hear an appeal of their cases based on claims of innocence.
In Agofsky's emergency injunction filed on December 30, it claimed: "To commute his sentence now, while the defendant has active litigation in court, is to strip him of the protection of heightened scrutiny.
The inmates claim that accepting the commutes would make it less likely that courts will hear an appeal of their cases based on claims of innocence.
"This constitutes an undue burden and leaves the defendant in a position of fundamental unfairness, which would decimate his pending appellate procedures."
According to Davis' attorneys, their client "has always maintained that having a death sentence would draw attention to the overwhelming misconduct."
In his filing, he also wrote that he "thanks (the) court for its prompt attention to this fast-moving constitutional conundrum. The case law on this issue is quite murky."
In 2004, Agofsky, 53, was sentenced to death for a murder he committed in 2001.
He was found guilty of stomping another inmate at a federal prison in Texas.
Back in 1989, he received a life sentence for the murder of a bank president that he committed with his brother.
Meanwhile, Davis, 60, was found guilty of arranging the death of Kim Groves in 1994 after she filed a complaint accusing him of beating a teenager in her Lower Ninth Ward neighborhood.
Biden stated: 'I am more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level.'
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Just before Christmas, Biden announced that he was commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 people on federal death row.
In his statement, the outgoing president said: "In good conscience, I cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted.
"These commutations are consistent with the moratorium my administration has imposed on federal executions in cases other than terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder.
"Make no mistake: I condemn these murderers, grieve for the victims of their despicable acts, and ache for all the families who have suffered unimaginable and irreparable loss.
"But guided by my conscience and my experience as a public defender, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Vice President, and now President, I am more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level."
