Framing how holiday federal clemencies should be remembered after the holidays

As noted in this post, Prez Biden used his clemency pen in notable ways on the Friday just before Christmas. To kick off the new year, Rachel Barkow and Mark Osler have this new Hill commentary that seeks to frame what’s really memorable and important about his latest actions. The piece’s headline, “Biden’s marijuana clemency grants are a small present in a big box,” captures on of its themes. Here are excerpts from a piece that should be read in full:

Most of President Biden’s Dec. 22 grants of clemency were a small gift in a big box. His claim to “have exercised my clemency power more than any recent predecessor has at this point in their presidency” is pure hyperbole, but underneath might be the seed of a truly significant movement towards more meaningful uses of federal clemency.

President Biden’s clemency grants covered two categories.  The first was in the big box.  It was his extension of an earlier categorical pardon that covers people convicted of simple possession or use of marijuana, or “attempted simple possession of marijuana,” including those convicted in the District of Columbia and on federal lands.

Biden’s original announcement of this categorical pardon last year came with great fanfare. It got lots of favorable press.  But underneath all the gift wrapping and tissue paper, there is not much there. Not a single person was released from prison as a result of Biden’s proclamation.  There is a popular conception that many people are moldering away in federal prisons for simply having some marijuana.  This just isn’t true and hasn’t been for decades….

It is the second category of grants from Dec. 22 that holds the promise of significant clemency relief.  President Biden commuted the sentences of 11 people who were serving extraordinarily long sentences for nonviolent drug distribution offenses. Four of the people were serving life sentences and all but one of the others were serving sentences of 20 years or more.

Eleven grants from a backlog of more than 16,000 clemency petitions waiting for action is hardly grounds for applause. But sometimes big things come in small packages.  These are exactly the kinds of cases that President Biden should be focused on. They might not get the press of the big marijuana proclamation, but these are the cases where clemency really matters. Unjust sentences that should have never been issued will be corrected as a result of those 11 grants. Eleven human beings will be released from prison.