Two death row inmates reject Biden's commutation of their life sentences

Source: MSN

Two prisoners who are among the 37 federal inmates whose death sentences were commuted last month by President Joe Biden — a move that spares them from the death chamber — have taken an unusual stance: They're refusing to sign paperwork accepting his clemency action.

Shannon Agofsky and Len Davis, both inmates at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, filed emergency motions in federal court in the state's southern district on Dec. 30 seeking an injunction to block having their death sentences commuted to life in prison without parole.

The men believe that having their sentences commuted would put them at a legal disadvantage as they seek to appeal their cases based on claims of innocence.

Death penalty appeals get looked at by the courts very closely in a legal process known as heightened scrutiny, in which courts should examine death penalty cases for errors because of the life and death consequences of the sentence. The process doesn't necessarily lead to a greater likelihood of success, but Agofsky suggested he doesn’t want to lose that additional scrutiny.

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/two-death-row-inmates-reject-biden-s-commutation-of-their-life-sentences/ar-AA1x4i9A?ocid=winp2fptaskbarhover&cvid=94f59ae8cbac4ce9bbf43a0fec167a0f&ei=43