In a historic move, Biden grants clemency to almost 1,500 people

President Joe Biden announced Thursday that he was commuting the sentences of nearly 1,500 people and pardoning 39 more people convicted of nonviolent crimes, setting a record for the largest one-day act of clemency in modern history. “I think it’s a good day for a lot of them.” “People who deserve this second chance,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. The White House said that many of those who received reduced sentences would have received lower sentences if they had been charged under today’s laws and have been serving their sentences at home for at least a year. “They were already outside. So it’s kind of, I’ve even described it as pretty thin pulp,” said Margaret Love, a former U.S. pardon attorney. Love noted that Biden has issued the lowest number of pardons of any first-term president in history. Data from the Hearst TV Data Team shows that overall presidential pardons and commutations have been declining for decades, with few exceptions.” One of the problems “That’s because the process for making recommendations to the president, which is controlled by the Justice Department , has become more and more stingy over the years,” said Love. Biden’s action comes after he faced criticism over the pardon of his son Hunter and is reportedly considering preemptive pardons for targets of President-elect Donald Trump’s threats. “If he offered it to me or other members of the committee, I think I would take it, but it’s his decision,” said Rep. Bennie Thompson, former chairman of the Jan. 6 special committee. Biden says he will take further steps in the coming weeks and will continue to consider additional pardons and Commutations.PHNjcmlwdCB0eXBlPSJ0ZXh0L2phdmFzY3JpcHQiPiFmdW5jdGlvbigpeyJ1c2Ugc3RyaWN0Ijt3aW5kb3cuYWRkRXZlbnRMaXN0ZW5lcigibWV zc2FnZSIsKGZ1bmN0aW9uKGUpe2lmKHZvaWQgMCE9PWUuZGF0YVsiZGF0YXdyYXBwZXItaGVpZ2h0Il0pe3ZhciB0PWRvY3VtZW50LnF1ZXJ5U2VsZWN0b3JBbGw oImlmcmFtZSIpO2Zvcih2YXIgYSBpbiBlLmRhdGFbImRhdGF3cmFwcGVyLWhlaWdodCJdKWZvcih2YXIgcj0wO3I8dC5sZW5ndGg7cisrKXtpZih0W3JdLmNvbnR lbnRXaW5kb3c9PT1lLnNvdXJjZSl0W3JdLnN0eWxlLmhlaWdodD1lLmRhdGFbImRhdGF3cmFwcGVyLWhlaWdodCJdW2FdKyJweCJ9fX0pKX0oKTs8L3NjcmlwdD4=