Biden breaks single-day record for pardons by commuting nearly 1,500 sentences and pardoning 39

U.S. President Joe Biden announced Thursday the largest number of pardons ever granted in a single day, according to the White House. He has decided to commute the sentences of nearly 1,500 people who were subjected to home confinement instead of prison during the Covid pandemic and who have successfully reintegrated into their families and communities. In addition, he fully pardoned 39 people convicted of non-violent crimes. The announcement comes weeks after the controversial pardon he granted to his son Hunter for the crimes of illegal purchase and possession of a weapon and tax evasion, for which he was awaiting sentencing, and also for any other crimes since 2014, a decision harshly criticized even by Democrats.

“America was built on the promise of possibility and second chances,” the president said in a statement. The White House says the measures now extend to people who have demonstrated successful rehabilitation. Examples include a decorated military veteran and pilot who devotes much of his time to helping fellow church members who are in poor health or unable to perform strenuous tasks; a nurse who has led emergency response in several natural disasters and helped spearhead vaccination efforts during the Covid-19 pandemic; and an addiction counselor who volunteers his time to help young people.

Biden has granted more pardons than any of his recent predecessors at this point in their first terms. He is the first president to grant sweeping pardons to people convicted of simple marijuana use and possession, and to former military personnel convicted of private conduct due to their sexual orientation.

The president also announced that he would grant new pardons in the coming weeks. “My Administration will continue reviewing clemency petitions to advance equal justice under the law, promote public safety, support rehabilitation and reentry, and provide meaningful second chances,” the statement said. Anti-capital punishment activists are pushing for him to commute the federal sentences of those awaiting death row before Donald Trump takes office, who in his first term resumed executions after almost two decades without them.

The White House legal team has also been looking into the possibility of granting pre-emptive pardons to people who it is feared may be targeted by the Trump administration, including former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney; Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Milley, who called the former president a “fascist”; Democratic Senator-elect Adam Schiff, who led the first impeachment trial against the Republican; physician Anthony Fauci, who coordinated the U.S. response to the Covid pandemic; and special counsel Jack Smith, who led federal investigations into the now president-elect.

Democrats do not believe they have committed any crime, but are considering shielding them to avoid investigations that would entail reputational and financial costs even if they do not result in charges, prosecutions, or convictions.

Non-violent crimes

The 39 people who received full pardons were convicted of nonviolent crimes, including drug offenses, and have turned their lives around. The nearly 1,500 people who received commutations, meanwhile, have been serving their sentences at home for at least a year under the CARES Act, enacted to ease prison overcrowding amid the pandemic and prevent the spread of the virus in penitentiaries.

Some Republicans want to repeal that rule, which would mean returning them to prison. “These commutation recipients, who were placed on home confinement during the Covid pandemic, have successfully reintegrated into their families and communities and have shown that they deserve a second chance,” Biden said in his statement.

The U.S. Constitution does not recognize retroactive effects for more favorable criminal laws. That is why Biden has decided to grant clemency to people convicted of nonviolent crimes who were sentenced under outdated laws, policies, and practices that gave them harsher sentences than if they had been tried today, as is the case for many of the 1,500 who now benefit from commutation of their sentences, according to the White House.

The new pardons add to others granted by Biden during his term in office. In April 2022, he granted three full pardons and 75 commutations to people with a variety of drug-related offenses and to some people on home confinement under the CARES Act. In December 2022, he pardoned six people for a variety of drug and alcohol-related offenses. In April 2023, he commuted the sentences of 31 additional CARES Act recipients. In December 2023 and April 2024, he granted clemency to people convicted of nonviolent drug offenses, with 11 pardons and 16 commutations.

In addition to individual measures, in October 2022, Biden issued a full, complete, and unconditional pardon for the federal crime of simple marijuana possession, a measure he supplemented in December 2023. In June 2024, he decided to redress a historical injustice by pardoning American service personnel who were convicted and expelled from the military for being gay.

“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,” Biden said in the statement.

It is common for presidents to use the right of pardon granted to them by the Constitution at the end of their terms. Full pardons exempt the beneficiaries from guilt and punishment, while commutations reduce or eliminate the punishment without exonerating the crime. Sometimes, they are used only to erase criminal records.

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