Latest Presidential Commutations Change Lives, Should Go Further

Nation’s largest bipartisan criminal justicerReform organization encourages Biden to do more on non-violent drug offenses

Washington, DC – The President announced eleven pardons and five sentence commutations on Wednesday, all granted to individuals who were convicted of non-violent drug felonies which have been a primary focus for the Biden administration.

JC Hendrickson, Federal Affairs Director at the Justice Action Network, released the following statement in response: 

“The announcement today is a shining example of the power the President has to change lives, families, and communities for the better when he delivers on promises to create a more effective justice system. Today, sixteen people received a fresh start; five of them through relief of unjust and indeterminately long sentences that do not improve public safety or their own chances of rehabilitation. But we cannot stop there. There are thousands more people in federal prison for drug offenses that would receive far shorter prison terms if they were sentenced today. These disparities have a particularly significant impact in Black communities, a vestige of the failed crack cocaine sentencing policies of the past. We encourage President Biden to double down on today’s announcement and use his executive clemency power even more. We also urge Congress to pass the EQUAL Act, which would finally and fully end the worst remnants of the misguided and ineffective war on drugs, so people who have served ample time for their mistakes can safely return to their families and communities.”