USA | Death Row Inmates Commuted by Biden Moved to ‘Supermax’

Eight federal inmates whose death sentences were commuted by former President Joe Biden shortly before he left office have been moved to a notorious federal supermax prison in Colorado.

The inmates were moved from the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana, to the U.S. Penitentiary Administrative Maximum (ADX) facility in Florence, Colorado, on September 23, Randilee Giamusso, a spokesperson for the Bureau of Prisons, confirmed to Newsweek.

Rejon Taylor, one of the inmates whose death sentence was commuted and the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit that had sought to prevent transfers to the supermax prison, told Newsweek in a recent message that he expects he and the other remaining inmates may be moved there in the coming days or weeks. “I'm starting to feel a bit unsettled,” he said.

Newsweek has contacted the White House for comment via email. The Department of Justice has been contacted through a contact form on its website.

The Context

President Donald Trump oversaw 13 federal executions in the final six months of his first term. He had been expected to resume federal executions upon his return to office in January, but Biden prevented that by commuting the death sentences of all but three inmates on federal death row to life in prison without parole.

Though Trump cannot reverse his predecessor’s commutations, he signed a sweeping executive order on his first day back in office to expand the death penalty and directed the attorney general to evaluate the prison conditions of the inmates whose death sentences were commuted to ensure they "are imprisoned in conditions consistent with the monstrosity of their crimes and the threats they pose.”

What To Know

The inmates who have already been transferred to the supermax facility are:

Shannon Wayne Agofsky—convicted in the 1989 murder of Dan Short, a bank president, whose body was found in an Oklahoma lake. Federal prosecutors said Agofsky and his brother, Joseph, abducted and killed Short before stealing $71,000 from his bank. He was also convicted of killing fellow inmate Luther Plant in 1989 in a federal prison in Beaumont, Texas, where he was serving a life sentence for the aforementioned murder of Short.
Carlos David Caro—sentenced to death after being convicted of killing his cellmate while serving time for marijuana and cocaine charges.
Christopher Cramer
Joseph Ebron
Ricky Allen Fackrell
Edward Leon Fields, Jr.
Edgar Baltazar Garcia
Mark Isaac Snarr

Those inmates are not plaintiffs in the lawsuit seeking to prevent transfers to the nation’s only federal supermax prison.

That lawsuit, filed on behalf of 21 of the 37 inmates whose sentences were commuted, alleges the administration’s efforts to transfer the inmates to the prison are unconstitutional.

"By categorically condemning Plaintiffs to indefinite incarceration in harsh conditions in response to their receipt of clemency from the previous President, it exceeds the statutory authority granted to the Attorney General and her deputy, and is arbitrary, capricious, and an abuse of discretion; it was made without proper notice and comment; and otherwise is not in accordance with law," the complaint, filed in April, said.

What People Are Saying

Taylor told Newsweek in a recent message that he fears being moved to ADX Florence: “I won’t have the privilege to connect with the outside world as I do now. And that alone will kill me. There's no hope for me if I end up there.

David Fathi, director of American Civil Liberties Union's National Prison Project, previously said in a statement to Newsweek: "In an attempt to counter President Biden's death-row commutations, President Trump has ordered people the prior administration commuted from death row to be condemned to the harshest federal prison in the country, ADX Florence, a facility designed only for people who cannot be safely housed anywhere else. Choosing to send the plaintiffs to ADX even though Bureau of Prisons (BOP) corrections officials agree they do not meet this standard is an affront to long-established norms, expert judgment, and the Constitution.”

Fathi said it "upends the process the BOP has long used when determining where people should be incarcerated—an individualized process that carefully weighs security needs, health considerations, and institutional capacity. Categorically moving people to ADX without justification has nothing to do with legitimate corrections or safety concerns: it is a dangerous act of political theater. At a time when the BOP is already facing a well-documented staffing crisis, this move diverts resources from federal prisons across the country, threatening the safety of incarcerated people and staff alike.”

He added: "President Trump does not get to play judge, jury, or corrections official. As we will show in this lawsuit, the Constitution forbids this administration's arbitrary and vindictive actions.”

Trump's executive order said Biden had commuted the sentences of 37 of the 40 "most vile and sadistic rapists, child molesters, and murderers on Federal death row: remorseless criminals who brutalized young children, strangled and drowned their victims, and hunted strangers for sport."

Biden said in a statement announcing the commutations in January: "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 he added he is "more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level. In good conscience, I cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted."

What’s Next

The lawsuit seeking to prevent the transfers to ADX Florence is ongoing.

A federal judge in August gave the plaintiffs until October 20 to file a response to the defendants’ motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

Source: Newsweek, Khaleda Rahman, October 2, 2025

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