WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Thursday commuted the sentences of about 1,500 people under home confinement during the coronavirus pandemic and pardoned 39 people convicted of nonviolent crimes.
“America was built on the promise of opportunity and second chances,” Biden said said in a statement. He noted that many of the 1,500 are serving long prison sentences that would be shorter under current laws, policies and practices.
The end of the Biden administration is the largest one-day clemency grant in newfangled history.
The president added that his administration would continue to consider clemency requests before his term ends on January 20. More than 9,400 clemency requests have been submitted to the White House. according to the Justice Department’s current clemency statistics.
“As President, I have the great privilege of showing mercy to people who have shown remorse and rehabilitation, restoring the opportunity for Americans to participate in daily life and contribute to their communities, and taking steps to restore the… “To eliminate sentencing disparities for non-violent offenders, particularly those convicted of drug crimes,” Biden said.
The 39 people pardoned included 67-year-old Michael Gary Pelletier of Augusta, Maine, who pleaded guilty to a nonviolent felony and provided brief biographies of the pardoned people, according to the White House.
After his conviction, Pelletier worked at a water treatment plant for 20 years and volunteered with the HAZMAT team to assist with perilous spills and natural disasters. Today, he grows vegetables for a local soup kitchen and volunteers to support wounded veterans.
Another pardon was granted to Nina Simona Allen of Harvest, Alabama.
Allen, 49, was convicted of a nonviolent offense in her 20s, the White House said. After her conviction, she earned a post-baccalaureate degree and two master’s degrees and now works in education. She also volunteers at a local soup kitchen and nursing home.
Hunter Biden pardoned
The appeal for clemency came after the president gave a full apology for his son Hunter Biden for weapons and tax offenses and other crimes from 2014 to December. The president had previously stated that he would not pardon his son, but changed his mind because he said his son was constantly targeted from Republicans.
Other clemency measures Biden has taken include: Commutation of sentence for those serving time Penalties for plain possession and operate of marijuana under federal and District of Columbia law and a Pardon of convicted former US soldiers under military law, consensual sex with same-sex partners – a law that has now been repealed.
Additionally, Advocates and Democrats have urged Biden to exercise his clemency powers on behalf of the 40 men on federal death row before President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House. Democrats pushed for it because Trump expedited 13 federal executions of people on death row in the final six months of his first term.
The co-directors of Popular Democracy in Action, a progressive advocacy group, Analilia Mejia and DaMareo Cooper, said in a joint statement that Biden “should not stop now.”
“Thousands more of our people, wronged by an unjust system, are still waiting for freedom and compassion,” they said.
According to the White House, those with non-violent crimes were pardoned by the president:
Alabama
Nina Simone Allen
California
Gregory S. Ekman
Colorado
Johnnie Earl Williams
Connecticut
Sherranda Janell Harris
Delaware
Patrice Chante seller
District of Columbia
Norman O’Neal Brown
Florida
Jose Antonio Rodriguez
Illinois
Diana Bazan (*39*)
Indiana
Emily Good Nelson
Kentucky
Edwin Allen Jones
Louisiana
Trynitha Fulton
Maine
Michael Gary Pelletier
Maryland
Arthur Lawrence Byrd
Minnesota
Kelsie Lynn Becklin
Sarah Jean Carlson
Lashawn Marrvinia Walker
Nevada
Lora Nicole Wood
New Mexico
Paul John Garcia
up-to-date York
Kimberly Jo Warner
Ohio
Duran Arthur Brown
Kim Douglas Haman
Jamal Lee King
James Russell Stidd
Oklahoma
Shannan Rae Faulkner
Oregon
Gary Michael Robinson
South Carolina
Denita Nicole Parker
Shawnte Dorothea Williams
Tennessee
James Edgar Yarbrough
Texas
Nathaniel David Reed III
Mireya Aimee Walmsley
Lashundra Tenneal Wilson
Utah
Stevoni Wells Doyle
Virginia
Brandon Sergio Castroflay
Washington
Rosetta Jean Davis
Terence Anthony Jackson
Russell Thomas Portner
Wisconsin
Jerry Donald Manning
Audrey Diane Simone
Wyoming
Honey, Lori Moore
Last updated on December 12, 2024 at 1:50 p.m
