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There are 14,039 commutation petitions waiting in the pardon attorney's office. There are 3,557 petitions for pardons waiting for the president's signature. This means over 17,000 people are waiting for the compassion and mercy of the Biden Administration. Granting pardons to people who have never been incarcerated and clemency to those already on home confinement is not bold and is not mercy.
It is true that President Biden made a pardon announcement for 6,000 people with charges of marijuana possession only. It needs to be noted that this announcement of Pardon's did not release one person from Federal Prison.
He also granted commutations to around 80 people. Most all of these people had previously been released to home confinement.
Since the end of 2020 the federal prison population has been steadily increasing and now there are over 159,000 people in the BOP. Where are the grants of clemency to people who are actually living behind bars?
This is from Doug Berman's blog - Sentencing Law and Policy
A helpful reader altered me to an event, called "A Celebration of Second Chances," that the Office of the Pardon Attorney is hosting in honor of Second Chance month. This program will be livestreamed at this link tomorrow, Friday, April 21, 2023, at 10:00 am EDT. The email I received flagging the celebration event described it this way:
The event will feature opening remarks by Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco and Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke and a panel of speakers who will discuss the impact of second chances through clemency. Speakers will include Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Polite, Jr., former Deputy Attorney General David Ogden, and the Honorable Alexander Williams, Jr., and clemency recipients Danielle Metz, Norman Brown, and Evans Ray. The event will also honor special guests who have received clemency from President Biden and his predecessors or who have received other forms of second-chance relief.
