President Joe Biden has commuted the sentences of nearly 2,500 non-violent drug offenders, a move that will be one of his final official actions before leaving office.
The White House called the largest single-day act of clemency in US history.
This clemency action applies to individuals who received lengthy sentences based on outdated distinctions between crack and powder cocaine, as well as outdated sentencing enhancements for drug crimes.
Biden acknowledged that these individuals have been serving “disproportionately long sentences compared to the sentences they would receive today under current law, policy, and practice.“
He said his action is an important step towards righting historic wrongs, correcting sentencing disparities, and providing deserving individuals the opportunity to return to their families and communities.
A Legacy in Clemency
Biden has now issued more individual pardons and commutations than any president before him.
“With this action, I have now issued more individual pardons and commutations than any president in US history,” Biden said, adding that he may issue further commutations or pardons before he hands over power to President-elect Donald Trump on Monday.
Biden commuted the sentences of nearly 1,500 people, including 37 of the 40 inmates on federal death row. He outrightly pardoned 39 others.
Among those pardoned in December was Biden’s son Hunter, who was facing a possible prison sentence after being convicted of gun and tax crimes.
Biden has meanwhile reportedly been debating whether to issue blanket pardons for some allies and former officials amid fears they could be targeted for what Trump has previously called “retribution.”
Three men were excluded from the move: one of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombers, a gunman who murdered 11 Jewish worshippers in 2018 and a white supremacist who killed nine Black churchgoers in 2015.
Trump has indicated that he will resume federal executions, which were paused while Biden was in office.
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