WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden commutes the sentences of nearly 1,500 people released from prison and placed on home confinement during the coronavirus pandemic and pardons 39 Americans convicted of nonviolent crimes. do. This is the largest one-day act of amnesty in modern history.
The sentence reductions announced Thursday are for people who have served a sentence of home confinement for at least a year after being released. Prisons are particularly bad conditions for the spread of the virus, and some inmates have been released to stop the spread. At one point, one in five prisoners was infected with the coronavirus, according to an Associated Press tally.
Biden said he would take further steps in the coming weeks and continue to consider the clemency petition. Barack Obama had the second-highest number of pardons in a day, with 330 just before leaving office in 2017.
“America was built on possibility and the promise of second chances,” Biden said in a statement. “As President, I will extend mercy to those who have shown remorse and rehabilitation, restore opportunities for Americans to participate in everyday life and contribute to their communities, and take steps to eliminate sentencing disparities, especially for nonviolent offenders. These are people who have been convicted of drug crimes. ”
The pardon follows a broader pardon for Hunter’s son Hunter, who was charged with gun and tax crimes. Biden is under pressure from advocacy groups to pardon a wide range of people, including those on federal death row, before the Trump administration takes office in January. He is also investigating President Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and considering whether to grant pre-emptive pardons to people who could face retribution when he takes office.
White House lawyers said the people pardoned Thursday had been convicted of nonviolent crimes, including drug offenses, and had turned their lives around. These include women who led emergency response teams during natural disasters. A church deacon who has worked as an addiction counselor and youth counselor. PhD student in molecular biosciences. and decorated veterans.
To date, the president has granted 122 commutations and 21 pardons. He also issued broad pardons to people convicted of marijuana use and simple possession on federal lands and the District of Columbia, including those convicted of violating the now-defunct military ban on consensual homosexuality. He also granted amnesty to former U.S. military personnel.
Massachusetts Representative Jim McGovern and 34 other members of Congress are asking the president to pardon environmental and human rights lawyer Stephen Donziger. Mr. Donziger was imprisoned or under house arrest for three years on contempt of court charges related to his work as an environmental and human rights lawyer. Indigenous farmers are suing Chevron.
Some people are calling for Biden to commute the sentences of federal death row inmates. His attorney general, Merrick Garland, suspended federal executions. Biden said during his 2020 campaign that he wanted to abolish the death penalty, but he never did. With Trump back in office, executions are likely to resume. During his first term, President Trump presided over an unprecedented number of federal executions in the midst of a pandemic.
More pardons are expected before Biden leaves office on January 20, but it is unclear whether he will take action to prevent possible prosecution by Trump, an untested exercise of his power. is. The president took the idea seriously, considering it for six months before the presidential election, and was concerned it would set a precedent, people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. Discuss internal discussions on condition of anonymity.
However, those who receive a pardon must accept it. Sen. Adam Schiff of New California, who chaired the Congressional committee that investigated the violent riot on January 6, said such a pardon from Mr. Biden was “unnecessary” and that the president said that he should not spend his days in office waning. I’m worried about this.
The president has the power to both pardon, which exempts a person from crime and punishment, and commutation, which reduces or waives punishment, but does not absolve a person of wrongdoing. Presidents typically grant pardons at the end of their terms, using the power of their office to expunge records or end sentences.
Before pardoning his son, Biden had repeatedly promised not to pardon him. In a statement explaining his reversal, he said prosecutors had been poisoned by politics. The decision prompted criminal justice advocates and lawmakers to put more public pressure on the government to extend the same powers to ordinary Americans. This was not a very popular move. Only about 2 in 10 Americans supported his decision, according to an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll.
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