Joe Biden Sets Record by Commuting 2,500 Drug Offender Sentences

Jan 17, 2025 | Uncategorized

The latest in a growing string of clemency approvals gives Biden the presidential record for most individual pardons and commutations issued.

The president’s son Hunter,  who had pleaded guilty to tax violations and was convicted on firearms-related charges, is among those to benefit despite months of protestations to the opposite.

In December, Biden commuted the sentences for 37 out of 40 federal inmates on death row, converting them to life in prison without parole, as Breitbart News reported.

The octogenarian said he is seeking to undo “disproportionately long sentences compared to the sentences they would receive today under current law, policy, and practice.”

“Today’s clemency action provides relief for individuals who received lengthy sentences based on discredited distinctions between crack and powder cocaine, as well as outdated sentencing enhancements for drug crimes,” Biden said in a statement.

“This action is an important step toward righting historic wrongs, correcting sentencing disparities, and providing deserving individuals the opportunity to return to their families and communities after spending far too much time behind bars.”

When a U.S. Senator, Biden had crafted a 1986 law that set this sentencing disparity, but backed ditching the guidelines, which happened in 2022.

The White House did not immediately release the names of those receiving commutations.

AP reports Friday’s action follows Biden’s commutations last month of the sentences of roughly 1,500 people who were released from prison and placed on home confinement during the coronavirus pandemic, as well as the pardoning of 39 Americans convicted of nonviolent crimes.

That was the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history.

“I am proud of my record on clemency and will continue to review additional commutations and pardons,” Biden said on Friday in a hint more acts of presidential clemency might be just over the horizon.

Follow Simon Kent on Twitter: or e-mail to: skent@breitbart.com

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