President Joe Biden commuted the sentences of roughly 2,500 non-violent drug offenders Friday, breaking his own record for single-day commutations just days before leaving office.
Those receiving clemency were “serving disproportionately long sentences compared to the sentences they would receive today under current law, policy, and practice,” Biden said in a statement released Friday. “This action is an important step toward righting historic wrongs, correcting sentencing disparities, and providing deserving individuals the opportunity to return to their families and communities after spending far too much time behind bars.”
Biden had previously set the mark for single-day commutations in December, when he reduced the sentences of nearly 1,500 individuals and pardoned another 39. Biden came under fire for these grants of clemency, which included a corrupt Pennsylvania judge who sent juveniles to prison in exchange for kickbacks and a woman who murdered two husbands and an ex-boyfriend for insurance money.
The outgoing president also received heavy criticism for his sweeping pardon of his son, Hunter Biden, after repeatedly promising not to do so.
“With this action, I have now issued more individual pardons and commutations than any president in U.S. history,” Biden said Friday.
Biden indicated that more commutations might be on the way, saying he “will continue to review additional commutations and pardons” prior to leaving office next week.
