The Justice Department argued Monday in a court filing that two inmates who have taken the extraordinary step of asking a federal judge to revoke their death row commutations granted by President Joe Biden should be denied because the act of leniency does not violate the Constitution.
Len Davis, 60, and Shannon Agofsky, 53, are detained at a federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, where the United States government executes prisoners. Agofsky and Davis filed emergency motions seeking an injunction to block the change one week after Biden announced he was commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 inmates on federal death row to life in prison without the possibility of parole. They claimed the change could impact their appeals in light of their initial convictions’ claims of innocence.
The U.S. government provided three arguments to U.S. District Judge James Sweeney in response to Davis’ request for an injunction. The government stated that commutations are legal, the president has the power to determine them, and a prisoner has “no authority to reject” one.
“The President’s commutation of a sentence ‘is the determination of the ultimate authority that the public welfare will be better served by inflicting less than what the judgment fixed,'” the attorneys for the United States stated. “Allowing Davis to veto this action would encroach on this exclusive and ultimate authority that is ‘part of the Constitutional scheme.'”
Regarding Agofsky’s request, the Justice Department stated that he had not shown a “jurisdictional basis for his petition.”
In his filing, Agofsky expressed his concern that, given the life-or-death nature of the sentence, he would not be subject to the same level of scrutiny in his case or the procedure by which courts review death penalty cases for errors.
The guys sought for co-counsel to assist them in this most recent case in addition to asking for an injunction.
Last Monday, Sweeney consented and designated the Indiana Federal Community Defenders to represent the prisoners.
In an order granting counsel, Sweeney stated that federal inmates are only entitled to legal representation if they are facing the death penalty or if their case involves an evidentiary hearing.
“Here, Mr. Agofsky is no longer under a death sentence,” Sweeney wrote. “Therefore, whether to appoint counsel is purely a discretionary matter.”
He stated that the court “harbors serious doubt that it has any power to block a commutation,” nonetheless “given the novelty of the legal question, the Court prefers to receive counseled briefing on the motion.”
Sweeney cited a 1927 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that upholds the president’s authority to pardon and give reprieves, stating that “the convict’s consent is not required.”
As stated in the Constitution, a president “shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.” Agofsky, however, feels that he has the authority to reject a commutation.
Laura, Agofsky’s wife, claims that he stated that the phrase “grant,” which he feels suggests someone had to have submitted an initial request, is the point of contention. He said that neither he nor Davis ever asked for a commutation and that they turned down repeated requests for a lighter sentence.
That, they argue, distinguishes them from the other ex-death row convicts who did apply for commutations.
This week, Davis and Agofsky are both required to respond to the Justice Department’s answer.
Agofsky was found guilty in 1989 of killing Dan Short, the president of a bank, whose body was discovered in a lake in Oklahoma. According to federal authorities, Short was kidnapped, killed, and $71,000 was stolen by Agofsky and his brother, Joseph Agofsky.
They sentenced both brothers to life in prison. However, Shannon Agofsky was convicted of the 2001 stomping death of fellow prisoner Luther Plant while he was confined in a Texas facility. In 2004, he was given the death penalty. (In 2013, Joseph Agofsky passed away in prison.)
Former New Orleans police officer Davis was found guilty in the 1994 murder of Kim Groves, who had complained that he had beaten a minor. Davis paid a drug dealer to kill Groves, according to the prosecution, and the officer was accused of breaching Groves’ civil rights. A federal appeals court overturned Davis’ initial death sentence, but it was reaffirmed in 2005.
Last month, Davis filed a motion for an injunction to commutate his sentence, stating that he “has always maintained his innocence and argued that federal court had no jurisdiction to try him for civil rights offenses.”
While anti-death penalty organizations applauded Biden’s broad clemency move, several of the victims’ relatives condemned it, arguing that death row inmates shouldn’t be granted such leniency.
Three federal death row inmates who participated in terrorist attacks or mass murders were denied commutations by the president.
Following the announcement, however, President-elect Trump declared that he would “vigorously pursue the death penalty” in his second administration. Although it is unclear how he would go about doing so, he has also stated that he would extend the death penalty at the federal level to include individuals guilty of drug and people trafficking, child rapists, and immigrants who murder American citizens and law enforcement.
Thirteen federal prisoners were executed near the end of Trump’s first term. “In good conscience, I cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted.” The Biden administration declared a moratorium on federal executions when he took office, and last month, he stated that he granted the death row commutations.