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BIDEN GRANTS HANDFUL OF PARDONS
Maybe I was too hasty in criticizing President Biden last week for granting no Christmas clemency petitions, with about 18,000 petitions for commutation or pardon pending (many for years).
Biden finally issued pardons to six people last Friday, four for various low-level drug offenses, one for the illegal sale of whiskey, and one to an 80-year-old woman who killed her husband 47 years ago. Three of the crimes had occurred at least a quarter century ago, and the fourth – an Air Force enlisted man convicted of taking (but not distributing) Ecstasy – happened about 20 years ago.
The White House statement said the pardoned people had served sentences and “demonstrated a commitment to improving their communities and the lives of those around them.”
The pardons came on the last business day of the year. In October, Biden pardoned thousands of unnamed people convicted of simple marijuana possession under federal law. In April, Biden granted three pardons and granted 75 commutations.
Two of the five pardoned last week served about two years in prison. Three of the other four served under a year, and the last one got probation.
At trial, the woman who killed her husband – convicted under District of Columbia law – was denied the right to argue that he had beaten her. Her appeal, the White House said, “marked one of the first significant steps toward judicial recognition of battered woman syndrome, and her case has been the subject of numerous academic studies.”
Two years into Biden’s Administration, the theme of his clemency policy seems to be that pardons will issue, favoring very simple drug and politically-preferred offenses, when the crime happened a long time ago. Commutations – which require actually letting people out of prison – seem to be disfavored by this White House.
A day before the pardon announcement, White House Domestic Policy Council Director Susan Rice said that Biden’s marijuana pardons and scheduling directive were among the administration’s top accomplishments in 2022. Biden issued a scheduling review order in October directing the Dept of Health and Human Services to consider rescheduling pot to a lower-level controlled substance.
Associated Press, Biden pardons 6 convicted of murder, drug, alcohol crimes (December 30, 2022)
White House, Clemency Recipient List (December 30, 2022)
Ibn-Thomas v. United States, 407 A.2d 626 (1979)
Marijuana Moment, Top White House Official Lists Biden’s Marijuana Pardons And Scheduling Review Among Top 2022 Administration Achievements (December 30, 2022)
– Thomas L. Root