In an unprecedented move, President Joe Biden has commuted the sentences of nearly 1,500 people and granted pardons to 39 others this week, marking the largest single day of clemency in modern American history.
According to a statement from the White House, the majority of those impacted by Thursday’s sweeping decision were inmates who had been placed in home confinement during the COVID era. The statement goes on to claim that these inmates had shown significant progress in their rehabilitation, successfully reintegrating into their communities after serving a portion of their sentences at home due to past COVID restrictions.
Along with the commutations, Biden also spoke on why his administration chose to issue pardons for 39 others convicted of non-violent crimes.
“America was built on the promise of possibility and second chances,” Biden wrote. “That is why, today, I am pardoning 39 people who have shown successful rehabilitation and have shown commitment to making their communities stronger and safer. I am also commuting the sentences of nearly 1,500 people who are serving long prison sentences, many of whom would receive lower sentences if charged under today’s laws, policies, and practices.”
While the White House has yet to release the names of those receiving clemency, the current president’s clemency grants are one of the largest single-day acts of clemency in the nation’s history. However, it doesn’t seem that the Biden administration is done releasing even more inmates quite yet.
“I will take more steps in the weeks ahead. My Administration will continue reviewing clemency petitions,” Biden added.
The announcement of Thursday’s vast amount of clemencies comes after Biden made headlines for granting a pardon to his son, Hunter Biden, for felony gun and tax charges, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
In the face of his son’s many controversies, the current president defended his decision for his pardon, claiming that Hunter had been unfairly targeted due to his family name.
“There has been an effort to break Hunter, who has been five and a half years sober, even in the face of unrelenting attacks and selective prosecution… In trying to break Hunter, they’ve tried to break me, and there’s no reason to believe it will stop here. Enough is enough,” Biden wrote in another statement earlier this month.
Although Biden had previously pledged not to intervene in his son’s legal matters multiple times, he clearly changed his mind.
The decision to pardon his son was met with widespread disapproval among the American public, as evident in an Associated Press poll, which shows that only 20% of Americans supported the decision.