Esther Salifu
In a groundbreaking move, President Joe Biden has commuted the sentences of nearly 2,500 people convicted of non-violent drug offenses, marking the largest single-day act of clemency in US history.
This decision aims to address the disproportionately long sentences served by these individuals, compared to what they would receive under current laws.
Notably, Biden has now issued more individual pardons and commutations than any president in US history. “With this action, I have now issued more individual pardons and commutations than any president in US history,” he emphasized.
Biden also commuted the death sentences of 37 of the 40 inmates on federal death row.
Three men were excluded from the move: one of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombers, a gunman who murdered 11 Jewish worshippers in 2018 and a white supremacist who killed nine Black churchgoers in 2015.
He further said: “is an important step toward righting historic wrongs, correcting sentencing disparities, and providing deserving individuals the opportunity to return to their families.
“With this action, I have now issued more individual pardons and commutations than any president in US history”.
