President Joe Biden set a record for single-day acts of clemency on Thursday, commuting the sentences of nearly 1,500 people and pardoning 39 more.
The move comes just weeks after Biden announced a sweeping pardon for his son, Hunter, ahead of the younger Biden’s sentencing for federal gun and tax offenses. That move received widespread blowback, even from many Democrats who argued that it set a bad precedent and appeared to put the president’s personal interests above the country’s.
The 1,499 people whose sentences were commuted on Thursday were placed on home confinement during the Covid-19 pandemic. They would likely have received lower sentences if they’d been charged today, according to a statement from Biden.
They have already “successfully reintegrated into their families and communities and have shown that they deserve a second chance,” Biden said in the statement.
Two of the people whose sentences were commuted, Rita Crundwell and Eric Bloom, were identified by the Chicago Tribune as “two of the Chicago area’s most notorious fraudsters.” Crundwell, 71, the former comptroller of Dixon, Ill., embezzled nearly $54 million from the town in and pleaded guilty in 2012. Bloom, 59, the one-time head of a management firm, was convicted in 2012 of defrauding investors of more than $665 million, according to the paper.
The 39 other people Biden pardoned on Thursday were mostly convicted of non-violent offenses, mostly drug offenses, when they were young, according to the White House. They have “shown successful rehabilitation” and a “commitment to making their communities stronger and safer,” Biden’s statement said. Many are veterans, have gone on to successful careers, and volunteer for their churches and charitable organizations.
The youngest person pardoned Thursday was a 36-year-old man from Seattle who pleaded guilty to a drug offense when he was 23. He now works in the legal field, is pursuing a degree, and volunteers as a barber for children in need, according to the White House.
Two 79-year-old U.S. Air Force veterans from Ohio and Tennessee were the oldest people who received pardons from Biden on Thursday.
“America was built on the promise of possibility and second chances,” Biden said in his statement. “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.”
Pardons are expressions of presidential forgiveness, according to the U.S. Department Justice. They don’t signify innocence, but “should lessen the stigma arising from a conviction,” according to the DOJ.
The more than 1,500 single-day acts of clemency by Biden on Thursday are far more than the 330 by Barack Obama before he left office in 2017, the previous single-day record, according to the Associated Press.
Biden said he intends to “take more steps in the weeks ahead.” Some Democrats are urging him to preemptively pardon people who were involved in the investigation of President-elect Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election out of fear that Trump could target them for retribution when he takes office again next month.