POLITICS
Biden to commute sentences of 1,500 ‘non-violent’ offenders
President Joe Biden is commuting the sentences of roughly 1,500 people who were released from prison and placed on home confinement during the coronavirus pandemic and is pardoning 39 Americans convicted of nonviolent crimes.
It is the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history.
The commutations announced Thursday are for people who have served home confinement sentences for at least one year after being released. 1 in 5 prisoners had COVID-19, according to a tally kept by The Associated Press.
Biden said he would be taking more steps in the weeks ahead and would continue to review clemency petitions. The second largest single-day act of clemency was by Barack Obama, with 330, shortly before leaving office in 2017.
“America was built on the promise of possibility and second chances,” Biden said in a statement. “As president, I have the great privilege of extending mercy to people who have demonstrated remorse and rehabilitation, restoring opportunity for Americans to participate in daily life and contribute to their communities, and taking steps to remove sentencing disparities for non-violent offenders, especially those convicted of drug offenses.”
The clemency follows a broad pardon for his son Hunter, who was prosecuted for gun and tax crimes. Biden is under pressure from advocacy groups to pardon broad swaths of people, including those on federal death row before the Trump administration takes over in January.
Those pardoned Thursday had been convicted of nonviolent crimes such as drug offenses and turned their lives around, White House lawyers said. They include a woman who led emergency response teams during natural disasters; a church deacon who has worked as an addiction counselor and youth counselor; a doctoral student in molecular biosciences; and a decorated military veteran.
The president had previously issued 122 commutations and 21 other pardons. He has also broadly pardoned those convicted of the use and simple possession of marijuana on federal lands and in the District of Columbia and pardoned former U.S. service members convicted of violating a now-repealed military ban on consensual gay sex.
Others are advocating for Biden to commute the sentences of federal death row prisoners. His Attorney General Merrick Garland paused federal executions. Biden had said on the campaign trail in 2020 that he wanted to end the death penalty but he never did, and now, with Trump coming back into office, it is likely executions will resume.
More pardons are coming before Biden leaves office Jan. 20, but it is not clear whether he will take action to guard against possible prosecution by Trump, an untested use of the power.
Before pardoning his son, Biden had repeatedly pledged not to do so. He said in a statement explaining his reversal that the prosecution had been poisoned by politics. The decision prompted criminal justice advocates and lawmakers to put additional public pressure on the administration to use that same power for everyday Americans.
It was not a very popular move; only about 2 in 10 Americans approved of his decision, according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
