President Joe Biden made significant moves on his final full day in office, announcing a pair of executive actions aimed at bolstering his legacy and protecting his accomplishments. The first action involved exercising his clemency power by pardoning five individuals and commuting the sentences of two others. Biden highlighted that these recipients had shown remorse, rehabilitation, and redemption, making positive contributions to their communities.
Among those pardoned was civil rights leader Marcus Mosiah Garvey, receiving a posthumous pardon. Don Leonard Scott, Jr., who had been convicted of a non-violent drug offense in 1994, was also pardoned. Scott later became the first Black speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates. Additionally, Biden granted pardons to a criminal justice advocate, an immigrant community advocate, and a gun violence prevention advocate.
