The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area cases. According to the UCMJ, only the President has the power to commute a death sentence for military personnel to whom the UCMJ applies. Furthermore, no service member can be executed unless the President confirms the death penalty. From the beginning of 2008 through June 2009, five inmates of state prisons have had their death sentences commuted on humanitarian grounds.76 76  Ibid. 14