Prez Joe Biden commutes prison terms of 11 non-violent drug offenders and extends pardons to more marijuana possession offenses

As set forth in the official “Statement from President Joe Biden on Clemency Actions,” Prez Biden has decided to use his clemency pen a little this holiday season.  Here is how the statement starts:

America was founded on the principle of equal justice under law.  Elected officials on both sides of the aisle, faith leaders, civil rights advocates, and law enforcement leaders agree that our criminal justice system can and should reflect this core value that makes our communities safer and stronger.  That is why today I am announcing additional steps I am taking to make the promise of equal justice a reality.
 
First, I am commuting the sentences of 11 people who are serving disproportionately long sentences for non-violent drug offenses.  All of them would have been eligible to receive significantly lower sentences if they were charged with the same offense today.
 
Second, following my pardon of prior federal and D.C. offenses of simple possession of marijuana, I am issuing a Proclamation that will pardon additional offenses of simple possession and use of marijuana under federal and D.C. law. 

Upon first read, I believe there are additional marijuana possession offenses (eg, attempt charges and regulatory offenses) that are covered in today’s marijuana pardon Proclamation beyond those federal marijuana possession offenses that were pardoned by Prez Biden’s blanket pardons back in Oct 2022.  In addition, anyone who committed a federal marijuana possession offense after Oct 2022 until today is also covered by the new proclamation (which is, technically, many millions of Americans even though very few get actually arrested and prosecuted for violatons of federal law’s blanket prohibition on marijuana possession). 

I am inclined to guess that folks at the Justice Department’s Office of the Pardon Attorney came to realize that Prez Biden’s Oct 2022 pardon grants had some gaps that could and should be filled by an even broader proclamation.  Notably, though, this new Proclamation still provide this express limit on its reach: “This pardon does not apply to individuals who were non-citizens not lawfully present in the United States at the time of their offense.”

As for the commutation, the list of 11 individuals granted commutations today makes for an interesting read.  Most of the recipients are from the south and were serving 20 years or longer for crack offenses.  Two clemency recipients were convicted of meth offenses.   But none of the receipients will be home for the holidays, as three have their prison sentence “commuted to expire on February 20, 2024,” and six have their sentence “commuted to expire on April 20, 2024.”  (Why 4/20 was selected as the main sentence expiration date is beyond me, though I expect the “weed numerati” will find some meaning in that decision.)

Finally, I find it especially notable and interesting that four of the clemency recipients had been sentenced to LWOP terms and that two of these folks seemingly will still have many more years to serve in prison.  Earlie Deacon Barber and Darryl Allen Winkfield both were serving life terms, but will now have their federal prison terms expire on April 20, 2024.  But Deondre Cordell Higgins’s life sentence was “commuted to a term of 25 years,” and Leroy Lymons’ life sentence was “commuted to a term of 27 years.”  Because both of these persons were sentenced in the early 2010s, it seems unlikley they will be scheduled for relase from federal prison until the 2030s.  But, of course, for them that still surely beats never being scheduled for release from prison at all.