President Biden is again making history.
On Thursday it was announced that Biden is commuting the sentences of approximately 1,500 people who were released from prison and placed on home confinement during the coronavirus pandemic, and also is pardoning 39 Americans convicted of nonviolent crimes, many from long-ago nonviolent drug crimes.
It’s the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history. You can read the full list of recipients here.
"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."
Among those pardoned include a woman who led emergency response teams during natural disasters; a church deacon who has worked as an addiction counselor and youth counselor; a doctoral student in molecular biosciences; and a decorated military veteran.
Biden is under pressure to pardon broad swaths of people on death row before Trump takes office, as well as those who investigated Trump’s acts of insurrection and may be facing retribution.
Biden has reportedly been thinking about pre-emptive pardons for as long as six months – before the presidential election – but has been concerned about the precedent it would set. Those who receive such pardons would have to accept them.
Sen.-elect Adam Schiff, who was the chairman of the congressional committee that investigated the violent Jan. 6 insurrection, said such a pardon from Biden would be “unnecessary,” and that the president shouldn’t be spending his waning days in office worrying about this.
