By Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Mark Landler
President Joe Biden is commuting the sentences of nearly 1,500 individuals and granting pardons to 39 who were convicted of nonviolent offenses, marking the largest single-day clemency action by a president in U.S. history, according to a White House statement released Thursday.
The commutations primarily impact those who had been released from incarceration and placed under home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic. The individuals receiving pardons were convicted of nonviolent offenses, such as marijuana possession.
This announcement comes two weeks after Biden provided a pardon for his son, Hunter, who was convicted for gun possession and income tax evasion. This decision faced significant backlash from both Republican and Democratic parties, as Biden had previously denied clemency for his son.
According to the White House, the clemency actions announced on Thursday reflect Biden’s dedication to “reuniting families, fortifying communities, and helping individuals reintegrate into society.”
The statement highlighted that Biden is the first president to grant categorical pardons for individuals convicted of simple marijuana use and possession, as well as for former military personnel found guilty of offenses related to past laws against homosexual conduct.
For several months, advocates have encouraged Biden to exercise his clemency authority for inmates who were transitioned to home confinement during the pandemic, when COVID rapidly spread within jails and prisons. Some Republican lawmakers, poised to assume control of Congress next month, have attempted to push through legislation that would mandate the return of these individuals to prison.
In his Thursday statement, Biden noted that many of these individuals would have received lesser sentences had they been charged under the current laws.
“These commutation recipients, who were placed on home confinement during the COVID pandemic, have successfully integrated back into their families and communities and have demonstrated that they deserve a second opportunity,” he stated.
Biden mentioned that he would be taking additional actions in the coming weeks and would keep evaluating clemency petitions. His team has been discussing whether to provide blanket pardons to several individuals seen as opponents of President-elect Donald Trump, in an effort to shield them from the “retribution” Trump has vowed, according to sources familiar with the discussions.
White House officials do not consider the potential recipients to have actually committed crimes; however, they have grown more concerned that Trump’s choices for key Justice Department roles suggest he may carry out his repeated threats of revenge. The proposal would be to proactively grant executive clemency to a roster of current and former government officials, effectively circumventing the next president’s anticipated campaign of retaliation.
