Biden issues largest act of clemency in modern history

President Joe Biden will be commuting the sentences of 1,500 Americans who were released from prison and placed on house arrest during the pandemic and will be pardoning 39 individuals who were convicted of nonviolent crimes, according to a White House press release from Thursday.

This would be the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history.

Before Biden, former President Barack Obama issued the second-largest single-day act of clemency with 330 shortly before he left office in 2017.

Biden will be commuting these sentences and issuing pardons for those who have “shown successful rehabilitation,” shown “a strong commitment to making communities safer,” and who have “successfully reintegrated into their families and communities,” according to the press release.

“As the President has said, the United States is a nation of second chances,” the press release read. “The President recognizes how the clemency power can advance equal justice under law and remedy harms caused by practices of the past.”

“Together, these actions build on the President’s record of criminal justice reform to help reunite families, strengthen communities, and reintegrate individuals back into society,” the press release reads. “The President has issued more sentence commutations at this point in his presidency than any of his recent predecessors at the same point in their first terms.”

Before Biden, former President Barack Obama issued the second-largest single-day act of clemency with 330 shortly before he left office in 2017.

The Biden administration has focused on granting clemency to those who were convicted of “non-violent crimes” and were sentenced under “outdated laws, policies, and practices,” according to the press release.

“Federal convictions make it difficult to secure housing, jobs, educational opportunities, benefits, and health care; all essential to living a healthy and productive life,” the press release reads. “Through his use of the clemency power, President Biden has taken steps to unlock doors of opportunity that would have otherwise remained closed to these recipients, who deserve a second chance.”

This clemency follows the sweeping pardon Biden issued for his son Hunter Biden on December 1, alleviating Hunter from the federal crimes he was charged with earlier this year. The pardon was met with a slew of bipartisan scrutiny, especially given the president’s repeated insistence that he would not pardon his son.

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