Realizing that Prez Biden is now officially behind Prez Trump’s clemency pace
Gearing up for this awesome series of panels later this month on “The Future of the President’s Pardon Power: 2021 Clemency Panel Series,” and particularly thinking about Prez Trump’s record for this first panel on “Donald Trump’s Theatre of Pardoning,” it dawned on me that it was around this time in 2017 that Prez Trump issued his very first clemency grant. Specifically, as noted in this post, on August 25, 2017, President Donald Trump pardoned former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
Fast forward four years, and we are now into September of the first year with President Biden in the oval Office and he has not yet used his clemency pen one single time. Being behind Prez Trump’s unimpressive pace is especially troubling given that candidate Joe Biden promised to “broadly use his clemency power for certain non-violent and drug crimes” and there is an on-going pandemic that continues to harmfully impact a (now growing) federal prison population as well as thousands of low-risk offenders released to home confinement facing possible return to prison.
I have highlighted in a number of prior posts how disappointing the Biden Administration’s criminal justice record has been so far. But his clemency record (or lack thereof) represents the most tangible and worrisome example of this Administration’s apparent affinity for the (broken) political and legal status quo on various federal criminal justice matters.
A few of many prior related posts:
- “Donald Trump’s Theatre of Pardoning: What Did We Learn?”
- ACLU urging Prez Biden to “use his clemency powers to bring home 25,000 people” from federal prisons
- Notably advocacy for Prez Biden to use his clemency power to ensure those released into home confinement need not return to prison
- Uninspired comments and plans emerging from Biden White House concerning clemency vision
- “When Will Joe Biden Start Using His Clemency Powers?”
- New Federal Sentencing Reporter issue considers “After Trump: The Future of the President’s Pardon Power”