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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Adria R Walker

After Biden pardoned his son, advocates call on him to grant clemency for others

a man in a suit looks to the side with his hand to his mouth
Joe Biden is facing calls to use his executive clemency power to redress longstanding injustices in the US legal system. Photograph: Yuri Gripas/EPA

In late November, a group of lawmakers sent a letter to Joe Biden, calling on him to use his “executive clemency power to address longstanding injustices in our legal system”.

The letter, which is just one example of how lawmakers and advocates across the country have pushed for the president to grant clemency and issue pardons during his lame duck period, came days before the US president pardoned his son Hunter for any federal crimes “he committed or may have committed” between 1 January 2014 and 1 December 2024.

Below is a list of some of the groups and individuals who they are pushing for.

Federal death row inmates

On Monday, more than 130 civil and human rights organizations called for Biden to commute the sentences of the 40 people on federal death row. 

“President-elect Trump has promised to restart and accelerate the federal death machine, just as he did in his last administration,” Paul O’Brien, the executive director of Amnesty International USA, said in a statement. “We should take Trump at his word when he says he plans to repeat this horrific killing spree, and Biden must do what he can now to prevent it.”

People with marijuana convictions

Previously, Biden issued two blanket pardons for people convicted of minor marijuana-related crimes, though neither of the pardons made federal prisoners eligible for release. The president is one of the architects of the 1994 crime bill, under which many primarily Black and brown people were convicted and given lengthy, draconian sentences for marijuana possession. 

He campaigned on reducing mass incarceration and “automatically expung[ing] all prior cannabis use convictions”. Yet, Biden has only granted 1.6% of clemency requests – the lowest of any president in modern history – and the two blanket pardons did not address the thousands of people who are currently incarcerated on marijuana-related offenses. 

“Too many lives have been upended because of our failed approach to marijuana,” Biden said in 2022. “It’s time that we right these wrongs.”

Leonard Peltier

Leonard Peltier, an Indigenous activist who has spent nearly 50 years behind bars, was denied parole earlier this year. Despite evidence of prosecutorial misconduct and due process violations throughout his trial, Peltier has been serving two consecutive life sentences for the 1975 murders of two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

Peltier has maintained his innocence, and many advocates, including Coretta Scott King, Nelson Mandela, Pope Francis, current US senators and James H Reynolds, the US attorney who handled the prosecution and appeal of Peltier’s case, have fought for his release over the years. Peltier is 80, and with several health problems, advocates fear he will die in prison unless Biden pardons him.

“Leonard Peltier should not have to die in prison,” said Justin Mazzola, an Amnesty International USA researcher. “In his remaining weeks in office, President Biden has the opportunity to release Peltier, allowing him to be home with his family and community for his last years, which could be one step to help mend the fractured relationship between Native Americans and the government and would forever be part of Biden’s legacy.”

People with lengthy federal prison terms

Many advocacy groups, including the bipartisan organization FWD.us, have called for Biden to commute the sentences of those serving excessive federal prison terms.

“Thousands of people have spent decades in prison serving disproportionately long sentences,” Zoë Towns, executive director of FWD.us, said in a statement. “They are parents and grandparents, many well past the age of retirement and many dealing with illness, who can come home without compromising public safety. Clemency from President Biden may be their last, best chance at relief.”

In late November, the non-profit FAMM Foundation released an open letter from more than 50 people who had received clemency from Biden and the previous four presidents.

“Clemency is one of the most powerful tools at the president’s disposal to correct injustice and grant mercy,” the letter reads. “All of us were, at one time, buried under long, unjust sentences. We reconnected with family, we engaged in rehabilitative programming, we furthered our education, and we did this all knowing that we may never walk out of the prison doors.”

Immigrants who served in the US military

In accordance with the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, US veterans who are legal residents, but not US citizens, can be deported despite having served in the military. 

As of February, more than 40,000 foreign nationals were serving in active and reserve components of the armed forces. And “an estimated additional 115,000 foreign nationals residing in the United States are veterans who have previously served on active duty”, according to an August report.

The Unified US Deported Veterans Resource Center is calling for Biden to pardon repatriated veterans. 

“We ask President Biden to sign the 25 pending pardons for repatriated veterans,” said Robert Vivar, the executive director of the group, “so they may have the opportunity to remain in the country they were willing to die for and is home to their family.”

The ACLU of Southern California has echoed calls for a pardon. “Thanks to a years-long campaign, after decades of exile from the country to which they’ve pledged their lives, over 120 deported veterans have finally returned home to the US,” the group said in a statement. “But without pardons from President Biden, most of them will soon be at risk of deportation again.”

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