By Jack Phillips
Contributing Writer
President Joe Biden on Thursday commuted the sentences of around 1,500 people convicted of crimes and pardoned 39 people. This follows his pardoning of his son, Hunter Biden, earlier this month.
The number of individuals to whom Biden granted clemency was “the most ever in a single day,” according to a White House statement.
“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,” Biden said in the statement.
Record Number of Commutations in a Day
The commutations announced on Thursday are for people who have served out home confinement sentences for at least one year after they were released. During the COVID-19 pandemic, some prison inmates were released in part to stop the spread of the virus.
The White House stated that those pardoned “have shown successful rehabilitation and a strong commitment to making their communities safer,” adding that they have “successfully reintegrated into their families and communities” since the pandemic release.
Those 1,500 people have been serving out home sentences for at least one year under the CARES Act, which was passed in 2020 during the pandemic.
The names of those who were granted clemency were released on the White House website.
New Pardons Announced
People who were pardoned on Thursday were convicted for nonviolent offenses such as drug crimes, the White House said.
They include a woman who led emergency response teams during natural disasters, a church deacon who works as a counselor, and a military veteran.
The president had previously issued 122 commutations and 21 other pardons. He’s also broadly pardoned those convicted of the use and possession of marijuana on federal lands and in the District of Columbia and pardoned former U.S. service members convicted of violating a now-repealed military ban.
Earlier this month, the president pardoned Hunter Biden for two federal tax and gun convictions, which were scheduled for sentencing in the coming weeks. Biden also pardoned his son for any other crime he may have committed between Jan. 1, 2014, and Dec. 1, 2024.
Biden said on Dec. 1 that his son was “unfairly prosecuted” and “was treated differently” because he’s the president’s son.
“He believes in the justice system, but he also believes that politics infected the process and led to a miscarriage of justice,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who, along with Biden and other White House officials, had previously said that Hunter Biden would not get a pardon.
The pardon of the president’s son drew bipartisan criticism, with Democratic Colorado Gov. Jared Polis saying it sets a “bad precedent” that might be abused by future presidents.
What Are Commutations and Pardons?
The U.S. Constitution stipulates that a president has the power to grant clemency, which includes both pardons and commutations. A pardon forgives federal criminal offenses; a commutation reduces penalties but isn’t as sweeping.
It’s customary for a president to grant pardons or commutations at the end of his term, using the power of the office to wipe away records or end prison terms.
The power of clemency has its roots in English law. It made it across the ocean to the American colonies and stuck around. The U.S. Supreme Court has found the presidential pardon authority to be very broad.
In his first term, President Donald Trump granted 237 acts of clemency, while President Barack Obama granted clemency 1,927 times in his eight years. Presidents have forgiven drug offenses, fraud convictions, Vietnam-era draft dodgers, fighting for the Confederacy in the Civil War, and many other things.
Over the years, some presidential acts of clemency have been controversial.
Notably, in 1974, President Gerald Ford preemptively pardoned his predecessor, Richard Nixon, months after he resigned from office following the Watergate scandal.
Biden Suggests More Pardons in Coming Days
In his statement on Thursday, Biden suggested he would issue similar orders before leaving office on Jan. 20, 2025, saying he “will take more steps in the weeks ahead.”
Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Massachusetts, and 34 other lawmakers are urging the president to pardon environmental and human rights lawyer Steven Donziger, who was imprisoned or under house arrest for three years because of a contempt of court charge related to his work representing farmers in a lawsuit against Chevron.
Others have called on Biden to commute the sentences of federal death row prisoners.
Some Democratic lawmakers have publicly said Biden should issue preemptive pardons for certain people.
Sen. Ed Markey, D-Massachusetts, said in an interview last month, “If it’s clear by Jan. 19” that it appears some prominent individuals could be targeted, “then I would recommend to President Biden that he provide those preemptive pardons to people because that’s really what our country is going to need next year.”
“I would urge the president not to do that,” new Sen. Adam Schiff, D-California, told Politico, regarding preemptive pardons. “I think it would seem defensive and unnecessary.”
Calls to Pardon Trump Emerge
This week, a prominent Democratic lawmaker suggested that Trump should be pardoned in the two federal cases that were brought against him by special counsel Jack Smith.
Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-South Carolina, the former House Democratic majority whip, responded to a question during an MSNBC interview about whether Biden should pardon Trump.
“Yes, I do think so,” the longtime congressman responded. “And I think he should pardon all of those people that have been accused and have been targeted so we can clean the slate and have an air of possibilities for the future.”
“If we keep digging up things of the past, I’m not too sure the country would not lose its way,” Clyburn said while also defending Biden’s decision this month to pardon his son for two federal convictions.
Outgoing Sen. Joe Manchin, I-West Virginia, a former Democrat, also suggested earlier this month in a CNN interview that Biden should pardon Trump.
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pennsylvania, wrote on Truth Social on Tuesday that Trump should be pardoned for the New York case earlier this year in which he was found guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records. Only the governor of New York can issue that pardon because it was a state crime.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
