It's customary for presidents on the way out the door to grant pardons to a handful of prisoners and commute the sentences of a few more. The urge to create the illusion that the president is a good and just man is just too much to resist.
Joe Biden is no different as far as the urge to be seen "doing good" is concerned. Where he separates himself from normal, run-of-the-mill presidents is in the scale of his do-gooderism. The White House announced on Wednesday that Biden has pardoned 39 "non-violent" prisoners and commuted the sentences of 1,500 others. The White House says it's the largest grant of clemency in U.S. history.
Biden's recent pardon of his own son, Hunter, complicates his moves to grant clemency to anyone. Hunter would have been convicted of a gun crime, tax fraud, and several other crimes for which Americans are rotting in jail. I'm sure the families of many non-violent criminals who will remain locked up wonder about the president's compassion for his son and not for their loved one.
Just because someone wasn't convicted of a violent crime doesn't mean they haven't committed violent crimes for which they were never caught. With the way plea deals work today, a good lawyer can plead down almost any crime to a misdemeanor.
It's an abuse of the president's clemency power. Historically, clemency, for the most part, has been granted selectively and carefully. But Biden's mania for being the first president to name someone of this race or gender to an important job or be the first president to visit this or that country or be the first president to do the most, the largest, the most spectacular, the most awe-inspiring feat in history knows no bounds.
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“America was built on the promise of possibility and second chances,” Biden said in a 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.”
Sources said the nearly 1,500 individuals whose long sentences are being commuted Thursday were placed on home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic and were deemed to have demonstrated a clear commitment to rehabilitation and reintegration into their communities. The 39 people being pardoned were convicted of non-violent crimes and considered to have demonstrated records of meaningfully giving back to the country.
“They are individuals who have secured employment, advanced their education, served as caretakers for their children and family members, and have really reintegrated into the tapestry of their communities,” an administration official familiar with the announcement told CNN. “They include individuals who faced incredible challenges in life and have really now shown resilience and seeking to overcome those challenges.”
“The President has shown his views on clemency and how he can use the clemency power to make our country more equitable, more just, repair some of the past wrongdoings that we’ve seen in the criminal justice system, and that continues to be how the president is viewing the petitions that he is and will be reviewing over the coming weeks,” an administration official told CNN.
It is not equitable, just, or repairing wrongdoing for Biden to pardon his son while leaving others convicted of similar crimes sitting in jail. Biden has set a horrible example and history will rightly condemn him for it.