President Joe Biden is commuting the sentences of nearly 1,500 people and pardoning 39 others in “the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history,” the White House announced Thursday.
The amnesty will be extended to roughly 1,500 people who were placed on home confinement during the COVID pandemic and 39 others who were convicted of nonviolent crimes, especially drug crimes, who have “shown successful rehabilitation,” according to a White House press release.
Biden said in the statement he would “take more steps in the weeks ahead” and continue to review clemency petitions to advance “equal justice under the law, promote public safety, support rehabilitation and reentry, and provide meaningful second chances.”
The White House said the pardoned individuals include a decorated military veteran, a nurse who helped spearhead vaccination efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic and an addiction counselor who volunteers to help young people.
The actions come less than two weeks after Biden pardoned his son, Hunter, for gun and tax felonies, igniting bipartisan backlash.
Who are the 39 people Biden pardoned?
The White House on Thursday released the names of the 39 people pardoned in a press release:
- Nina Simona Allen
- Kelsie Lynn Becklin
- Duran Arthur Brown
- Norman O’Neal Brown
- Arthur Lawrence Byrd
- Sarah Jean Carlson
- Brandon Sergio Castroflay
- Rosetta Jean Davis
- Stevoni Wells Doyle
- Gregory S. Ekman
- Shannan Rae Faulkner
- Trynitha Fulton
- Paul John Garcia
- Kim Douglas Haman
- Sherranda Janell Harris
- Terence Anthony Jackson
- Edwin Allen Jones
- Jamal Lee King
- Jerry Donald Manning
- Honi Lori Moore
- Emily Good Nelson
- Denita Nicole Parker
- Michael Gary Pelletier
- Russell Thomas Portner
- Nathaniel David Reed III
- Gary Michael Robinson
- Jose Antonio Rodriguez
- Patrice Chante Sellers
- Audrey Diane Simon
- James Russell Stidd
- Diana Bazan Villanueva
- Lashawn Marrvinia Walker
- Mireya Aimee Walmsley
- Kimberly Jo Warner
- Johnnie Earl Williams
- Shawnte Dorothea Williams
- Lashundra Tenneal Wilson
- Lora Nicole Wood
- James Edgar Yarbrough
Contributing: Gabe Hauari,Joey Garrison, USA TODAY
