Biden commutes 1,500 sentences and issues 39 pardons in biggest single-day act of clemency in history

Joe Biden has issued the single largest act of clemency in modern history, commuting the sentences of roughly 1,500 people and issuing 39 presidential pardons, the White House says.

With just 40 days left in the White House, the president announced on Thursday that he is lessening the sentences of thousands of prisoners who were released and placed on home confinement for at least a year during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Biden, who faced a backlash after pardoning his own son Hunter for his federal crimes earlier this month, also issued pardons for US citizens convicted of non-violent crimes such as drug offenses, who have shown “successful rehabilitation”.

The president said his administration will continue reviewing clemency petitions to “advance equal justice” and “provide meaningful second chances,” before president-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated on January 20, 2025.

“America was built on the promise of possibility and second chances,” Biden said in a statement released by the White House on Thursday.

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He continued: “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.”

Presidents can issue pardons (removing a punishment after a court decision) and commutations (a reduction in punishment for a crime) as they see fit for federal convictions, but not for state crimes. 

According to the White House, Thursday’s pardons include a nurse who led emergency response teams during natural disasters; a pilot who helps fellow church members who are in poor health; and an addiction counsellor who helps young people and dissuades them from joining gangs.

As infections surged at the peak of the coronavirus pandemic, one in five prisoners contracted the virus, according to a tally kept by the Associated Press. Some inmates were subsequently released and place on home confinement in a bid to curb the spread.

The incumbent president’s historic issuing of commutations and pardons dwarfs those granted on a single day by former President Barack Obama, with a combined total of 330, shortly before leaving office in 2017, which now marks the second largest single-day act of clemency.

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It follows Biden issuing a broad pardon for his son Hunter Biden for “offenses against the United States which he has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024.”

In June, Hunter, 54, was convicted of three federal gun charges related to his purchase of a firearm in 2018. Three months later, he pleaded guilty to nine federal tax charges.

Biden claimed that his hand was forced as Hunter had been “selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted” by the Department of Justice. The president previously stated he would not get involved in his son’s criminal cases.

The Democrat had been facing mounting pressure from advocacy groups to pardon broad swaths of people, including those on federal death row, before the Trump administration takes over in January.

The Biden administration is also said to be mulling pre-emptive presidential pardons for Trump critics who may face retribution, particularly those who investigated the president-elect’s effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.