NewsUS President Joe Biden granted clemency Thursday to nearly 1,500 Americans in the largest single-day use of presidential clemency powers in modern US history.
The action includes sentence commutations for approximately 1,500 people who were moved to home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic, along with pardons for 39 individuals convicted of non-violent crimes.
The bulk of the commutations apply to individuals who have served at least one year of home confinement under the CARES Act, a law passed in March 2020 that allowed the Bureau of Prisons to transfer eligible federal inmates to home confinement to reduce COVID transmission in prisons. To qualify for commutations, these individuals must have demonstrated successful rehabilitation through employment and education.
The remaining 39 individuals include people convicted of non-violent crimes who have “turned their lives around,” according to the White House.
The announcement builds on Biden’s previous clemency actions, including his categorical pardons for simple marijuana possession and for LGBTQ+ service members convicted of certain offenses based on their sexual orientation.
Biden said in a statement:
America was built on the promise of possibility and second chances. 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.
He vowed to continue reviewing clemency petitions and considering pardons in the weeks ahead, before President-elect Donald Trump begins his new term.
Earlier this month, Biden courted controversy by pardoning his own son, Hunter, of all federal offenses “which he has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024.” Hunter Biden, 54, had recently pleaded guilty to failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes between 2016 and 2019. He was also convicted on federal gun charges in Delaware earlier this year.
The US Constitution grants sweeping pardon powers to US presidents. Historically, outgoing presidents have used this authority to grant 11th-hour pardons that may have proved too controversial to undertake earlier in their terms, at stages when their presidential decisions and powers were more beholden to governmental consensus.
