President Joe Biden commuted the sentences of nearly 1,500 individuals and pardoned another 39, breaking the record for the largest grant of clemency in a single day, the White House announced on Thursday.
The White House said those granted clemency "have shown successful rehabilitation and a strong commitment to making their communities safer." Most of the individuals who were issued commutations—which leaves a guilty verdict intact but lessens some or all punishments—had been placed in home confinement during COVID-19 under the CARES Act. The 39 pardoned individuals were convicted of nonviolent crimes, including drug offenses.
"As the President has said, the United States is a nation of second chances," the White House said in a statement. "The President recognizes how the clemency power can advance equal justice under law and remedy harms caused by practices of the past."
Biden’s unprecedented move far surpasses former president Barack Obama’s 330 commutations, the second-largest single-day act of clemency, according to Politico.
The record-breaking act of clemency comes just two weeks after the president’s controversial pardon of his son, Hunter Biden, which he promised not to do numerous times. Hunter was convicted of gun possession in June and income tax evasion in September. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle criticized the president for the sweeping pardon. In the wake of the first son's pardon, some Democrats and clemency advocacy groups pressured Biden to use his exoneration powers more broadly before leaving office, Politico reported.
Biden indicated in his statement that his administration "will take more steps in the weeks ahead" in the name of "equal justice."
"My Administration will continue reviewing clemency petitions to advance equal justice under the law, promote public safety, support rehabilitation and reentry, and provide meaningful second chances."
The president’s team is also weighing whether or not to give preemptive pardons to adversaries of President-elect Donald Trump, including Senator Adam Schiff (D., Calif.) and former GOP Rep. Liz Cheney, according to Politico.
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