Biden Commutes 1,500 Sentences, Pardons 39 In Largest-Ever Clemency

WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Joe Biden on Thursday commuted the sentences of 1,500 Americans who were released from prison and placed on home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic and pardoned more than three dozen other people.

The sweeping action was the largest act of clemency in a single day and includes 39 pardons for non-violent crimes, including drug offenses, for people who had “turned their lives around” and have earned a second chance, the White House said.

Those granted clemency had been serving longer sentences than would have been imposed under more recent laws and practices and were placed on home confinement during the pandemic, and are people who have successfully reintegrated into their communities, Biden said. The full list of those granted clemency can be found here.

The commutations are for people who have served out home sentences for at least one year after they were released from prison. Prisons were uniquely bad for spreading the virus and some inmates were released in part to stop the spread. At one point, 1 in 5 prisoners had COVID-19, according to a tally kept by The Associated Press.

Biden, whose single term in the White House is drawing to an end, said in a statement that his administration will review other clemency petitions in the weeks ahead.

“America was built on the promise of possibility and second chances,” Biden said. “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.”

Clemency is the term for the power the president has to pardon, in which a person is relieved of guilt and punishment, or to commute a sentence, which reduces or eliminates the punishment but doesn’t exonerate the wrongdoing.

It is customary for an outgoing president to use the executive power to wipe away records and end prison terms. Even before Thursday’s announcement, Biden has granted more clemency requests than any other president at this point in his first term in recent history, the White House said. The second largest single-day act of clemency was by Barack Obama, with 330, shortly before leaving office in 2017.

Biden’s earlier actions include categorical pardons to people convicted under federal law of simple marijuana violations and former LGBTQ+ service members convicted of private conduct because of their sexual orientation.

Biden continues to face criticism for the blanket pardon earlier this month for his son, Hunter, despite previous pledges not to do so. The president’s action spared the younger Biden a possible prison sentence for federal felony gun and tax convictions.

The full list of people granted clemency is found on the White House website.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.