The president of the USA, Joe Bidenannounced this Thursday that it will commute the sentences of some 1,500 people and pardon another 39 convicted of non-violent crimes, in what represents the largest clemency measure approved in the history of the country, according to the White House.
Biden “will grant clemency to nearly 1,500 Americansthe most in a single day, who have demonstrated successful rehabilitation and a strong commitment to making their communities safer“, his cabinet announced in a statement.
Sentenced to house arrest during the pandemic
The president commutes the sentences of nearly 1,500 people who were placed in house arrest during the COVID-19 pandemic and who have successfully reintegrated into their families and communities.
Also pardons 39 people who were convicted of non-violent crimes.
These actions represent the largest grant of clemency in a single day in modern history, the White House.
The note specifies that Biden has issued more sentence commutations at this point in his presidency, which he will leave on January 20, than any of his recent predecessors at the same time in their first terms.
And he also announces that in the coming weeks he will take measures to “provide meaningful second chances and will continue to review additional pardons and commutations”.
The controversial pardon for his son
The decision comes just ten days after the American president granted a controversial “total and unconditional” pardon for his son Hunter Bidenprosecuted in a trial for illegal possession of a weapon and tax fraud, a measure highly criticized in the country, especially by the Republican Party and even by some of his Democratic colleagues.
The pardon exempted Hunter Biden of a possible prison sentence for having lied in the criminal record statement by purchasing a revolver in October 2018 and then having it for 11 days, without acknowledging his then addiction to drugs.
Furthermore, he got rid of the nine counts of tax fraud that he was accused of and of which he had already admitted guilt.
On his last day in power, the president Barack Obama had set a new record for clemency measures, commuting the sentences of 330 prisoners convicted of non-violent crimes related to drugs.
In total, Obama, also a Democrat, commuted the sentences of 1,715 people, including 568 who had been sentenced to life imprisonment.