Biden Announces Mass Commutations After Criticism Over Hunter Pardon

President Joe Biden announced Thursday that he would commute the sentences of around 1500 people, many of whom were moved from prison and placed into home confinement during the height of the COVID lockdowns. 

In addition to those granted clemency, Biden said he was also pardoning 39 people convicted of non-violent crimes, including drug offenses. In total, the White House said that Biden’s actions “represent the largest single-day grant of clemency in modern history.”

“The President has issued more sentence commutations at this point in his presidency than any of his recent predecessors at the same point in their first terms,” the White House said. “In the coming weeks, the President will take additional steps to provide meaningful second chances and continue to review additional pardons and commutations.”

The White House said that one person he pardoned is “a decorated military veteran and pilot.”

“These individuals are parents, veterans, health care professionals, teachers, advocates, and engaged members of their communities. Many of them have used their experiences in the criminal justice system to inspire and encourage others,” the White House said. 

The White House said as his term winds down, Biden would “continue to review clemency petitions and deliver criminal justice reform in a manner that advances equity and justice, promotes public safety, supports rehabilitation and reentry, and provides meaningful second chances.”

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Biden previously rolled out a mass pardon for those convicted of simple marijuana possession. That mass pardon was criticized by critics who said it would benefit people who were arrested for more serious crimes but plea-bargained down.

“You are going to have a very large number of people affected by this who were charged with something far more serious so that the government had leverage to get them to cooperate, and then they pled it down to a simple misdemeanor possession,” said Paul Larkin at the time, a senior legal research fellow at The Heritage Foundation.

The White House’s announcement on Thursday comes after Biden was widely criticized for giving a sweeping pardon to his son Hunter after promising not to do so. Hunter was facing potential prison time for gun and tax crime convictions. 

One recent Associated Press—NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll found that only 22% of Americans approved of the Hunter pardon. While 38% of Democrats supported the pardon, just 12% of independents did, and only 7% of Republicans.