Biden issues 39 pardons, commutes nearly 1,500 sentences

WASHINGTON — US President Joe Biden on Thursday pardoned 39 people and commuted the sentences of nearly 1,500, setting a single-day record for acts of clemency.

"Today, President Biden announced that he is granting clemency to nearly 1,500 Americans — the most ever in a single day — who have shown successful rehabilitation and a strong commitment to making their communities safer," according to a White House document.

The nearly 1,500 individuals who received commutations had served their sentences at home for at least one year during the COVID-19 pandemic. "He is also pardoning 39 individuals who were convicted of nonviolent crimes," the White House said. Nonviolent crimes often include drug offenses, fraud or theft.

Biden said he would be taking more steps in the weeks ahead and would continue to review clemency petitions. The president had previously issued 122 commutations and 21 other pardons, according to The Associated Press.

The second-largest single-day act of clemency was by Barack Obama, with 330, before leaving office in 2017.

The clemency follows a broad pardon for Hunter Biden, Joe Biden's son, who was prosecuted for gun and tax crimes. Biden is under pressure from advocacy groups to pardon broad swaths of people, including those on federal death row before the administration of Donald Trump takes over in January. He's also weighing whether to issue preemptive pardons to those who investigated Trump's effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and are facing possible retribution when he takes office.

Before pardoning his son, Biden had repeatedly pledged not to do so. He said in a statement explaining his reversal that the prosecution had been poisoned by politics. The decision prompted criminal justice advocates and lawmakers to put additional public pressure on the administration to use that same power for everyday US citizens. It wasn't a very popular move; only about 2 in 10 Americans approved of his decision, according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Agencies - Xinhua