President Biden has made several promises regarding pardons. he broke one of those promises pardon Her son Hunter Biden claimed he was wrongly prosecuted.
he also swore exercise his generous powers widely Address mass incarceration and correct harsh and unjust sentences. So far, that promise has not been fulfilled. Biden has granted fewer pardons than President-elect Donald Trump's first term. Grants fewer pardons than other U.S. presidents After 1900, except for George H.W. Bush.
But it's never too late. Now is the time for Biden to take decisive action on pardons. People's lives depend on it.
Generosity is one of the most powerful tools in a president's toolkit. With the stroke of a pen, the president can give a convicted person a second chance. There are thousands of candidates for pardon in the federal prison system who have paid the price for their crimes, no longer pose a safety risk to the community, and are at risk of being left behind.
In a recent paper, 54 people who received pardons from Republican and Democratic presidents wrote: letter To Biden: “Even though we are free, we will never forget that we have left behind so many good people – people who deserve justice and mercy.”
With only a few days left in President Biden's term, it is important to emphasize the stakes of clemency. As a criminal defense attorney with 20 years of experience, I have seen firsthand the need for bold action on clemency.
The stories of three law students and people I represent, Robin Peoples, Dion Walker, and April Rice, show why President Biden must keep his promise to broadly use clemency powers. are.
Peoples is currently serving a 110-year sentence for a string of bank robberies in the 1990s, in which no one was physically harmed. The Federal Bureau of Prisons has set his release date as May 6, 2093, so without intervention people will die in prison. That would be meaningless, because he has already shown that he can succeed as a free man.
In 2021, the People's Sentencing Judge will allowed him They called for early release, citing the “astonishing absurdity” of the sentence by today's standards and his exemplary rehabilitation.
He returned to his hometown in Indiana, reunited with family and friends, and worked as a “good” employee at a local company. It all ended when federal prosecutors challenged a judge's decision to release him and he was forced to turn himself in to serve the remainder of his sentence.
As before, Peoples' community is ready to welcome him home again, and he can return to his old job. The 60 Bureau of Prisons employees who meet with him daily strongly support his release, writing in a petition that keeping him incarcerated is a “waste of taxpayer dollars.” These employees are right. There is absolutely no reason for him to remain in prison.
Dion Walker is serving a three-strikes mandatory life sentence for selling drugs to a government informant. His sentence is a harsh legacy of the drug war. be unduly influenced Black men like him.
Walker, 50, has been in prison for almost 20 years. Today, as a result of bipartisan changes to drug laws, he would surely be a free man by now with only a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison. However, Congress did not apply these changes retroactively.
Walker has more than just a criminal history. His current judge is praised him As a “model prisoner” and agree He said his life sentence was “longer than necessary to accomplish the purpose of sentencing.” Despite being a model prisoner, Walker remains in a maximum-security prison in the United States. Dangerously understaffedwhich jeopardizes the safety of those who live and work there and has led to a reliance on punitive lockdowns.
It doesn't have to be this way. Walker plans to live with his fiancée in his hometown and has a strong release plan in place with multiple job offers. There's no question he earned a second chance.
Finally, April Rice is serving a 20-year minimum sentence for a non-violent drug offense. Her sentence was doubled based on a sentencing enhancement that would not have been imposed had she been sentenced today.
In 2022, Ms. Rice was allowed to serve the remainder of her sentence under home confinement under the CARES Act, reflecting the Bureau of Prisons' assessment that her chances of recidivism were extremely low. Since then, she has become a dedicated employee who is admired by her bosses.
Because Rice is older, he no longer requires close supervision under the Bureau of Prisons' sentence. So no matter where Rice goes, what he can do is limited. Moreover, like some members of Congress, her limited freedoms are at risk. suggested It has re-imprisoned her and about 1,500 others who are doing well in home confinement.
To protect Rice and other CARES Act recipients from being cruelly sent back to prison, Biden should grant them commutations.
There are many other players like Peoples, Walker, and Rice who have done their job and deserve a second chance. With the stroke of his pen, Biden can cement his legacy as a champion of tolerance for all people, not just those lucky enough to be his son.
Erika Zunkel is a clinical professor and director of the Criminal and Juvenile Justice Clinic at the University of Chicago Law School. As part of the clinic's Excessive Sentencing Project, she and her students pursue post-conviction relief for federal prisoners serving extreme sentences.
