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Translated by: Flutura Gashi-Mehmeti
- December 12, 2024 12:42
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Outgoing US President Joe Biden has issued presidential pardons to 39 Americans convicted of non-violent crimes and commuted the sentences of nearly 1,500 others.
The White House described the decision as one of the biggest acts of presidential courtesy issued in a single day. The names of the pardoned persons have not been given, the BBC reports.
The US Constitution states that a president has "broad power to grant pardons for offenses against the United States, except upon impeachment."
Earlier this month, Biden issued a pardon for his son Hunter, continuing a recent trend of presidents pardoning those close to them.
Announcing the measure, Biden said that those pardoned "have demonstrated successful rehabilitation and shown commitment to making their communities stronger and safer."
Their non-violent convictions included drug offenses.
Meanwhile, the commuted sentences were for hundreds of people who were placed under house arrest during the Covid-19 pandemic, and who were facing sentences that Biden considered too long.
Biden will leave the White House on January 20, 2025, when his successor Donald Trump will be inaugurated.
Until now, Biden held the record for the fewest pardons of any president in modern US history.
Trump has issued 237 acts of pardon during his first term in the White House, according to the "Pee" Research Center.
Biden's decision earlier this month to pardon his son, Hunter, continued a trend of presidents on both sides of the US political divide, including Trump, to grant clemency to people close to them .
Hunter Biden was facing sentencing on two criminal counts.
The move has sparked backlash, as the outgoing president had previously ruled out such a move. But in justifying the decision, Biden claimed that the cases against his son were politically motivated.
