Sen. Joe Manchin Slams Biden for Commuting Death Sentences of Samantha Burns’ Murderers

Outgoing West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin expressed strong disapproval on Thursday over President Joe Biden’s decision to commute the death sentences of two men convicted in the brutal 2002 murder of Samantha Burns, a 19-year-old student at Marshall University. The two men, Brandon Basham and Chadrick Fulks, had been sentenced to death for their roles in Burns’ killing. On Monday, as part of a larger commutation effort, Biden reclassified their sentences from execution to life in prison without the possibility of parole, along with 35 other inmates on federal death row.

Manchin called Biden’s decision “horribly misguided and insulting,” particularly given that Burns’ family had written to the president and the Department of Justice, pleading for the death sentences to remain in place. In a Facebook post, the senator expressed his condolences to Samantha’s parents, Kandi and John Burns, for the pain they continue to endure, especially during the holiday season. He added, “I can’t imagine the grief that Kandi and John Burns are reliving and dealing with… Please know that Samantha will forever be in our prayers.”

The White House announced on Monday that Biden had commuted the sentences of all federal death row inmates except for three: Dylann Roof, responsible for the 2015 Charleston church shooting; Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who carried out the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing; and Robert Bowers, the gunman in the 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue shooting. Biden’s decision to halt federal executions, except in cases involving terrorism and mass hate crimes, has drawn both support and criticism.

As Manchin pointed out, the concerns of victims’ families, such as the Burns family, were disregarded in favor of a broader policy aimed at ending the use of the death penalty. Manchin’s comments add to the growing backlash against Biden’s commutations, which include individuals convicted of heinous crimes such as murder, rape, and robbery.

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