Who did Biden pardon? Whose sentences were commuted? Takeaways from the president’s record day of clemency.

President Biden announced Thursday that he will commute the sentences of about 1,500 people released from prison and placed on home confinement during the pandemic; he also pardoned 39 Americans convicted of nonviolent crimes in what the White House called the “largest single-day clemency in modern history.”

“America was built on the promise of possibility and second chances,” Biden said in a statement. “As President, I have the great privilege of extending mercy to those who have shown repentance and rehabilitation, giving Americans the opportunity to participate in everyday life and contributing to their communities, and taking steps to eliminate disparities in to eliminate sentencing for non-violent offenders, especially those convicted of drug offenses.”

Graces and commutations, although often announced together, are different. A commutation reduces the sentence, but does not completely absolve the individual of the crime. A pardon is a complete forgiveness of a crime and restores the full rights of U.S. citizenship that may have been limited by a conviction, such as the right to hold public office or vote.

The previous most commutations issued by a president in a single day came in 2017, when President Barack Obama shortened prison sentences for 330 non-violent drug offenders.

Of the 21 presidents who have served since 1900, Franklin D. Roosevelt has issued the most pardons — 2,819, according to the Pew Research Center.

Whose sentences were commuted?

According to the White House, the 1,499 individuals who received commutations on Thursday had already served their sentences at home under the COVID-era CARES Act and “demonstrated their commitment to rehabilitation by securing employment and furthering their education.” ”

Biden said many of them “would have received lesser sentences had they been charged under current laws, policies and practices” and “successfully reintegrated into their families and communities.”

The White House has released a list of all 1,499 names, which you can view here.

Who was pardoned?

The 39 people pardoned by Biden were convicted of nonviolent crimes, mostly drug offenses, and have “demonstrated their commitment to making their communities stronger and safer,” the president said.

The names of all 39 have been released by the White House. They range in age from 36 to 79, and many are military veterans. They include:

• Brandon Sergio Castrolay, a 49-year-old U.S. Army veteran from Alexandria, Virginia, who was convicted of nonviolent drug-related crimes at the age of 21. Castrolay now “serves as a volunteer for several charitable organizations that support Gold Star families and wounded service members,” the White House said.

• Shannan Rae Faulkner, a 56-year-old from Muldrow, Oklahoma, who successfully served her sentence for a nonviolent drug offense and now works as a “counselor and recovery coach with female trauma victims and people with disabilities,” according to the White House.

• Gary Michael Robinson, a 70-year-old U.S. Army veteran from Redmond, Oregon, who has “built a successful firefighting and habitat conservation business” since his conviction for a nonviolent drug offense, the White House said.

What is Biden’s rationale for these acts of clemency?

President Biden has now issued more commutations than any other recent president during his first term, according to the White House.

Before Thursday, Biden had granted 122 commutations and 21 other pardons, mostly to people with nonviolent drug offenses. (During his first term, Donald Trump granted clemency to 237 people, including 144 on his last day in office.)

“The President intends to grant clemency to individuals convicted of non-violent crimes who were convicted under outdated laws, policies, and practices that left them with longer sentences than if the individuals were convicted today,” it said White House in a statement.

And Biden was the first president to grant broad categorical pardons to people convicted of simple use or possession of marijuana on federal lands and to U.S. service members convicted of a now-repealed military ban on consensual gay sex.

What About Hunter Biden’s Pardon?

Earlier this month, the president stoked controversy by pardoning his son Hunter Biden after previously bluntly saying he would not.

The announcement came weeks before Hunter Biden was set to be sentenced for his conviction on federal gun and tax charges.

“I believe in the justice system,” Biden said in a statement announcing Hunter’s pardon. “But as I struggled with this, I also believe that raw politics infected this process and led to a miscarriage of justice.”

The younger Biden was found guilty in June of three charges related to a 2018 gun purchase while addicted to crack cocaine. Prosecutors said Hunter Biden lied about his crack addiction when he applied to buy the firearm and that he illegally possessed the gun for 11 days.

Hunter Biden has been open about his struggles with addiction and his recovery. He was scheduled to stand trial in California on federal tax charges but agreed to plead guilty in early September when jury selection was set to begin, saying he wanted to spare his family the pain of a new trial.

What’s next?

Biden has reportedly weighed whether to grant preemptive pardons before leaving office to individuals against whom Trump has threatened to seek retaliation, including Sen. Adam Schiff, former Rep. Liz Cheney, Special Counsel Jack Smith and Dr. Anthony Fauci.

In his statement Thursday, Biden said he will “take additional steps in the coming weeks” and that his administration will “continue to review clemency requests to advance equal justice under the law, promote public safety, support rehabilitation and reentry, and provide meaningful second chances.”