Biden sets record by commuting sentences of nearly 2,500 people convicted on nonviolent drug charges
The recent round of clemency gives Biden the presidential record for most individual pardons and commutations issued.
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Vance says Jan. 6 participants who committed violence ‘obviously’ shouldn’t be pardoned
Vice President-elect JD Vance says people responsible for the violence during the Capitol riot “obviously” should not be pardoned, as President-elect Donald Trump is promising to use his clemency power on behalf of many of those who tried on Jan. 6, 2021, to overturn the results of the election that Trump lost.
Judge: Pardoning Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes for Capitol riot plot would be ‘frightening’
Rhodes is serving an 18-year prison sentence after a jury convicted him and other Oath Keepers members of seditious conspiracy, the most serious charge stemming from the Jan. 6, 2021, attack by a mob of Trump supporters.
Biden commutes roughly 1,500 sentences and pardons 39 in biggest single-day act of clemency
Most of the commutations announced Thursday are for people who had been placed on home confinement during the pandemic, rather than put in prison where the spread of COVID was high.
Biden is considering preemptive pardons for officials and allies before Trump takes office
The pardons would be for officials and allies who the White House fears could be unjustly targeted by President-elect Donald Trump’s administration, a preemptive move that would be a novel and risky use of the president’s extraordinary constitutional power.
President Biden pardons his son Hunter despite previous pledges not to
The move comes weeks before Hunter Biden was set to receive his punishment after his trial conviction in a gun case and guilty plea on tax charges, and less than two months before President-elect Donald Trump is set to return to the White House.
A pardon for Jamey Noel won’t come from his administration, Holcomb says
Any decision about whether or not to pardon former Clark County Sheriff and longtime Republican operative Jamey Noel of his crimes won’t come from the Holcomb administration, Gov. Eric Holcomb said Friday.
Biden pardons potentially thousands of ex-service members convicted under now-repealed gay sex ban
President Joe Biden pardoned potentially thousands of former U.S. service members convicted of violating a now-repealed military ban on consensual gay sex, saying Wednesday that he is “righting an historic wrong” to clear the way for them to regain lost benefits.
With pardons in Maryland, 2.5 million Americans will have marijuana convictions cleared or forgiven
Maryland this week became the latest state to announce mass pardons for people convicted of marijuana-related crimes as the nation wrestles with how to make amends for the lives disrupted in the decadeslong war on drugs.
President Biden says he won’t offer commutation to his son Hunter after gun sentence
President Joe Biden said Thursday that he will not use his presidential powers to lessen the eventual sentence that his son Hunter will receive for his federal felony conviction on gun crimes.
Biden is pardoning thousands convicted of marijuana charges on federal lands and in Washington
President Joe Biden is making thousands of people who were convicted of use and simple possession of marijuana on federal lands and in the District of Columbia eligible for pardons, the White House said Friday.
Biden pardons thousands for ‘simple possession’ of marijuana
President Joe Biden is pardoning thousands of Americans convicted of “simple possession” of marijuana under federal law.
Bannon charged with money laundering in wall-building scheme
Former President Donald Trump’s longtime ally Steve Bannon surrendered Thursday to face charges in New York alleging he duped donors who gave money to build a wall on the U.S. southern border.
Governor to pardon Plessy, of ‘separate but equal’ ruling
Louisiana’s governor planned to posthumously pardon Homer Plessy on Wednesday, more than a century after the Black man was arrested in an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow a Jim Crow law creating “whites-only” train cars.
‘Separate but equal’ Plessy pardon decision goes to governor
A Louisiana board on Friday voted to pardon Homer Plessy, the namesake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1896 “separate but equal” ruling affirming state segregation laws.
Indiana pardon requests have dwindled with state law change
Gov. Eric Holcomb issued seven pardons to convicted criminals during his first year in office, including a man who spent eight years in prison despite evidence he was wrongly convicted of armed robbery.
Jones: Pardon me? Can you deny a presidential pardon or commutation?
Though most of us might strain ourselves thinking of a reason why one might refuse a pardon or a commutation, multiple individuals have attempted to reject a pardon or commutation, providing both interesting stories and a strange, potential check on the executive.
Trump pardons ex-strategist Steve Bannon, dozens of others
President Donald Trump pardoned former chief strategist Steve Bannon as part of a flurry of clemency action in the final hours of his White House term that benefited more than 140 people, including rap performers, ex-members of Congress and other allies of him and his family.
Trump pardons 15, commutes 5 sentences, including GOP allies
President Donald Trump has pardoned 15 people, including a pair of congressional Republicans who were strong and early supporters, a 2016 campaign official ensnared in the Russia probe and former government contractors convicted in a 2007 massacre in Baghdad.
Among first acts, Biden to call for 100 days of mask-wearing
Joe Biden said Thursday that he will ask Americans to commit to 100 days of wearing masks as one of his first acts as president, stopping just short of the nationwide mandate he’s pushed before to stop the spread of the coronavirus.