President Biden recently commuted the sentences of 37 prisoners on federal death row, a move that reminds us of a similarly bold action by Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller on Dec. 29, 1970. Winthrop, in an unprecedented act for any U.S. governor, commuted the sentences of all death row inmates in Arkansas — 15 prisoners at Tucker Prison Farm. "What earthly mortal has the omnipotence to say who among us shall live and who shall die?" he said. "I do not. Moreover, in that the law grants me authority to set aside the death penalty, I cannot and will not turn my back on lifelong Christian teachings and beliefs, merely to let history run its course on a fallible and failing theory of punitive justice." Winthrop's opposition to capital punishment was well-known. In 1966, he publicly declared himself "unalterably opposed" to the death penalty, arguing that it was not a solution but rather an admission of failure "when the only way we can cope with the problem is taking another man’s life." By commuting the sentences of these 15 men, regardless of their crimes, he knew that he would receive backlash from some colleagues and members of the public. “However, failing to take this action while it is within my power, I could not live with myself."
