The Joke Writes Itself: Death Row Inmates Reject Biden’s Clemency in Humiliating Blow

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Two death row inmates have formally rejected President Joe Biden’s controversial commutation delivering yet another stunning blow to the scandal-plagued president’s legacy. 

Len Davis and Shannon W. Agofsky—both convicted felons sentenced to death who maintain their innocence—argued in separate court filings that Biden’s commutation jeopardizes their appeals. 

The two men are among 37 inmates whose death sentences Biden commuted on Dec. 23, 2024. This left the victims’ families and friends disappointed, affirming that Biden did not consult them. Davis and Agofsky ironically share their sentiments, according to NBC News and The New York Times. 

Agofsky, convicted of killing a prisoner while serving a life sentence for the 1989 murder of bank president Dan Short, argued that the commutation hinders his appeal process. 

“He is not seeking favors” the Agofsky filing claimed. “He merely wishes for his case to play out in court as it was meant to, within the protection of heightened scrutiny, and without the interference of partisan politics.” 

Agofsky claimed that Biden’s action would “strip him of the protection of heightened scrutiny.”  

He continued, “This constitutes an undue burden, and leaves the defendant in a position of fundamental unfairness, which would decimate his pending appellate procedures.” 

1) Shannon Agofsky.
Race/Ethnicity: White.
State: TX
Year convicted: 2004

Conviction: beating and stomping to death another inmate, Luther Plant. pic.twitter.com/R0GECGFJWl

— Charles Weber (@CWBOCA) December 12, 2024

Davis, a former New Orleans police officer, was sentenced to death for plotting the 1994 murder of Kim Groves, a woman who had accused him of beating a teenager in a police complaint. 

Federal investigators revealed that Davis hired a drug dealer to kill Groves. His sentence was reinstated in 2005 after being temporarily tossed years earlier. 

Davis “has always maintained his innocence and argued that federal court had no jurisdiction to try him for civil rights offenses,” his filing read. 

12) Len Davis
Race/Ethnicity: Black.
State: LA
Year convicted: 2005

Conviction: Killing 32-year old mother of 3, Kim Marie Groves, who witnessed him assaulting a young man while he was a police officer with the New Orleans police department, and filed a complaint against him. pic.twitter.com/TA9pMj3It9

— Charles Weber (@CWBOCA) December 12, 2024