Biden commutes nearly 1,500 sentences and pardons 39 people | Joe Biden News

The White House says this move represents the largest single-day act of clemency in modern US history.

US President Joe Biden commuted nearly 1,500 prison sentences and pardoned 39 people in what the White House described as the largest single-day act of clemency in the country’s modern history.

Biden said in a statement Thursday that he chose to pardon 39 people who “demonstrated successful rehabilitation” as well as a “commitment to making their communities stronger and safer.”

“I am also commuting the sentences of nearly 1,500 people serving long prison sentences – many of whom would receive reduced sentences if charged under current laws, policies and practices,” he said.

The White House said the reliefs were for people placed on home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thursday’s announcement came less than two weeks later Biden pardons his son Hunter for firearms and tax convictions after pledging not to do so.

Republicans took advantage of this decision, Attacking the Democratic President To use his power to protect a family member from legal judgment. They accused Biden of imposing a separate standard of justice on those with political connections.

The Biden administration rejected those allegations, saying that the trial of Hunter Biden was political in nature.

The pardon led to renewed calls for President Biden, who will leave office in January when President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated, to pardon and commute the sentences of thousands of people who have filed clemency petitions.

“Before you leave the White House, you must act on your words that ‘America is a nation founded on the promise of second chances’ by prioritizing an ambitious clemency initiative that pardons or commutes the sentences of nearly 10,000 pending clemency petitions.” Progressive groups wrote in Open letter For Biden last week.

They called on Biden to use his clemency powers “on a wide range of categories of people and cases,” including the elderly, the chronically ill, people on death row and those who were first imprisoned as minors.

“We urge you to take immediate action so that you can leave a legacy that is more important than the current numbers reflect,” the organizations said.

The White House said the people pardoned on Thursday were convicted of non-violent crimes such as drug crimes and turned their lives upside down.

They include a woman who led emergency response teams during natural disasters, a church deacon who worked as an addiction counselor and youth counselor, a doctoral student in molecular bioscience, and a military veteran.

In a statement Thursday, Biden said he “will take further steps in the coming weeks” and will continue to review clemency petitions.

The president had previously issued 122 commutations and 21 pardons.

He also has a wide range Pardoning the convicts use and possession of marijuana on federal lands and in the District of Columbia, and a pardon for former U.S. service members convicted of violating the now-rescinded military ban on consensual same-sex sex.