Biden pardons 39 people, commutes sentences of 1,500 others

Outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden said on Thursday he was pardoning 39 people convicted of non-violent crimes and commuting the sentences of nearly 1,500 others who were serving long prison terms.

The pardons and clemency come over a week after the president signed an unconditional pardon for his son Hunter.

Officials said last week that the White House was listening to demands for Biden to extend the same grace to thousands of people wronged by the U.S. judicial system.

The commutations on Thursday were announced for those who were placed on home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Biden said these people would have received shorter sentences if charged under today's laws, policies, and practices.

Sources had told Reuters last week that the pardons that were being discussed were said to include those convicted of nonviolent drug offenses and people identified by civil rights groups as unjustly incarcerated.

"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.

The president added that he will take more steps in the weeks ahead and that his administration will continue reviewing clemency petitions.

The White House said that the clemencies granted by Biden were the most ever in a single day.

U.S. House member Ayanna Pressley, one of the lead Democrats behind a letter to Biden last month urging him to issue clemency to Americans with nonviolent offenses, commended the president for taking "meaningful and historic action".

Her statement noted that he could take further steps to exercise his power during his remaining 39 days in office.

President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, has said he would act on his first day in office to pardon rioters involved in the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol attack, further building expectations for a broad granting of clemency. — Reuters