Who did Biden forgive? Whose phrases did he switch to? Recommendations from the president’s record day of clemency.

President Biden announced Thursday that he is commuting the sentences of about 1,500 people who have been released from prison and placed on home confinement during the pandemic; he also pardons 39 Americans convicted of nonviolent crimes in what the White House called “the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history.”

“America was built on the promise of possibility and second chances,” Biden said said in a statement. “As president, it is my great privilege to extend mercy to people who have demonstrated remorse and rehabilitation, restoring the opportunity for Americans to participate in everyday life and contribute to their communities, and to take steps to eliminate disparities in punishment for non-violent offenders, particularly those convicted of drug offences’.

Forgiveness and commutations, although often announced together, are different. A commutation is the reduction of a sentence, but does not completely exonerate the individual of the crime. A pardon is a complete forgiveness of a crime and restores full U.S. citizenship rights that may have been limited by a conviction, such as the right to hold public office or vote.

The previous most commutations issued by a president in a single day occurred in 2017, when President Barack Obama shortened the prison terms of 330 nonviolent offenders.

Of the 21 presidents who have served since 1900, Franklin D. Roosevelt issued the most pardons — 2,819 — according to the Pew Research Center.

Whose sentences were switched?

According to the White House, the 1,499 people who received the commutations on Thursday had already been serving at least one year of their sentence at home under the COVID-era CARES Act and had “demonstrated a commitment to rehabilitation by securing employment and advancing their education . “

Biden said many of them would have received “lesser sentences had they been charged under current laws, policies and practices” and would have “successfully reintegrated into their families and communities.”

The White House has released a list of all 1,499 names, which you can see here.

Who received forgiveness?

The 39 people who were pardoned by Biden were convicted of nonviolent crimes, mostly drug offenses, and “have shown a commitment to making their communities stronger and safer,” the president said.

The names of all 39 have been made public by the White House. They range in age from 36 to 79, and many are military veterans. These include:

• Brandon Sergio Castroflay, a 49-year-old US Army veteran from Alexandria, Virginia, who was convicted of nonviolent drug-related offenses at age 21. Castroflay “now volunteers for several charities that support Gold Star families and injured service members,” according to the White House.

• Shannan Rae Faulkner, a 56-year-old woman from Muldrow, Okla., who successfully served time for a nonviolent drug-related offense and now works as a “counselor and recovery coach with women victims of trauma and people with disabilities ,” according to White. House.

• Gary Michael Robinson, a 70-year-old U.S. Army veteran from Redmond, Ore., who since his nonviolent drug conviction has “built a successful business in firefighting and habitat conservation,” said White house.

What is Biden’s rationale for these acts of clemency?

President Biden has now issued more commutations than any other recent president so far in their first term, according to the White House.

Before Thursday, Biden had issued 122 commutations and another 21 pardons, mostly for people with nonviolent drug offenses. (During his first term, Donald Trump granted clemency to 237 people, including 144 on his last day in office.)

“The President intends to grant clemency to individuals convicted of non-violent crimes who were sentenced under outdated laws, policies and practices that left them with longer sentences than if the individuals were convicted today,” the White House said in a statement .

And Biden was the first president to grant sweeping categorical pardons to people convicted of simply using or possessing marijuana on federal land and members of the U.S. military convicted of a now-repealed military ban on consensual gay sex.

What about pardoning Hunter Biden?

Earlier this month, the president sparked controversy forgiving his son Hunter Biden after previously saying categorically that he would not.

The announcement came weeks before Hunter Biden was to be sentenced on his conviction on federal gun and tax charges.

“I believe in the justice system,” Biden said a statement announcing Hunter’s pardon. “But as I’ve wrestled with it, I also believe that raw politics has infected this process and led to a miscarriage of justice.”

The younger Biden was found guilty in June of three felony charges stemming from a 2018 gun purchase while addicted to crack cocaine. Prosecutors said Hunter Biden lied about his crack addiction while applying to purchase the firearm and illegally possessed the gun for 11 days.

Hunter Biden has been open about his struggles with addiction and his recovery. He was due to stand trial in California on federal charges, but agreed to plead guilty in early September when jury selection was set to begin, saying he wanted to spare his family the pain of another trial.

What’s next?

Biden has apparently it weighed whether to issue preemptive pardons before leaving office to people Trump has threatened to seek punishment against, including Sen. Adam Schiff, former Rep. Liz Cheney, special counsel Jack Smith and Dr. Anthony Fauci.

In his statement Thursday, Biden said he would “take more steps in the coming weeks” and that his administration would “continue to review clemency petitions to promote equal justice under the law, promote public safety, support rehabilitation and re-entry and to provide meaning. second chance.”