Biden commutes nearly 1,500 sentences 39 and pardons 39 people in a massive one-day act of clemency.

WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden is commuting the sentences of nearly 1,500 people 39 released from prison and under house arrest during the coronavirus crisis and pardoning 39 Americans convicted of non-violent crimes. It is the largest one-day event in modern history.

The changes announced on Thursday are for people who have served sentences of at least one year of house arrest to be released. Prisons were exceptionally bad at spreading the virus and some inmates were partially released to stop the spread. At one point, 1 in 5 inmates had COVID-19, according to statistics kept by the Associated Press.

Biden said he would take further steps in the coming weeks and would continue to review clemency applications. The second largest single-day act of mercy is for Barack Obama, with 330, shortly before leaving office in 2017.

“America was built on the promise of second chances,” Biden said in a statement. “As president, I have the great privilege to extend mercy to people who have shown remorse and rehabilitation, to restore the opportunity for Americans to participate in everyday life and to contribute to their communities, and to take steps to eliminate the disparity of sentences for those who are not violent, in particular. who have been convicted of drug offenses.”

The pardon follows the pardon of his son Hunter, who was prosecuted on gun and tax charges. Biden is under pressure from advocacy groups to pardon dozens of people, including those on the state's death row, before the Trump administration takes office in January. He is also considering whether to issue the first amnesty to those investigating Trump's attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and face possible reprisals if he takes office.

Those pardoned Thursday were convicted of non-violent crimes such as drug offenses and turned their lives around, White House lawyers said. They include a woman who led emergency teams during natural disasters; a church deacon who has worked as an addiction counselor and youth counselor; doctoral student in molecular biosciences; and a decorated military veteran.

Previously, the president had issued 122 speeches and 21 other amnesties. He also granted broad pardons to those convicted of using and possessing marijuana in federal states and the District of Columbia, and pardoned former members of the U.S. military convicted of violating the repealed military gay sex ban.

Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., and 34 other attorneys are urging the president to pardon environmental and civil rights attorney Steven Donziger, who was imprisoned or placed under house arrest for three years for contempt of court charges related to his advocacy work. Native farmers in the case against Chevron.

Some advocated for Biden to commute the sentences of federal inmates. His attorney general, Merrick Garland, stopped the execution. Biden had said in the 2020 campaign that he wanted to end the death penalty but he did not do it, and now, with Trump back in office, it is possible that executions will resume. In his first term, Trump presided over an unprecedented number of federal executions, carried out during the height of the epidemic.

More pardons are coming before Biden leaves office on Jan. 20, but it is not clear whether he will act to guard against the possible prosecution of Trump, an unchecked use of force. The president was serious about the idea and had been thinking about it for about six months — before the presidential election — but was worried about the precedent it would set, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke to The Associated Press. under the condition of disclosure to discuss internal negotiations.

But those who received pardons would have to accept them. New California Sen. Adam Schiff, who chaired the congressional committee investigating the January 6 violent coup, said such a pardon from Biden was “unnecessary,” and that the president should not spend his waning days in office. worry about this.

The president has the power to both pardon, where a person is freed from the crime and punishment, or commute the sentence, which reduces or removes the punishment but does not absolve him from committing the crime. It is customary for the president to show clemency at the end of his term, using the power of the office to expunge records or end incarceration.

Before pardoning his son, Biden had repeatedly promised not to do so. He said in a statement explaining his dismissal of the case, he said that the prosecutor was consumed by politics. The decision prompted criminal justice advocates and lawmakers to put more public pressure on the administration to exercise those same powers on everyday Americans. It was not a popular move; only about 2 in 10 Americans approved of his decision, according to a poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.