President Biden is set to commute sentences of 11 people who are serving prison time for nonviolent drug offenses, The Hill reports. He will also sign a proclamation to pardon certain marijuana offenses, including use and possession on specific federal lands. Biden last year pardoned thousands of individuals who had been convicted of simple marijuana possession under federal law. Each of the individuals being pardoned this week are serving what the White House called disproportionately long sentences for non-violent drug offenses. They would have been eligible for reduced sentences had they been charged today.
In addition to his marijuana pardons, Biden in April 2022 pardoned three people convicted of nonviolent crimes and commuted the sentences of 75 individuals convicted of nonviolent drug crimes in his first use of clemency powers since taking office. At the end of 2022, Biden pardoned six more individuals who served sentences for drug or alcohol-related crimes, as well as a woman who had been convicted of second-degree murder while she was in an abusive relationship. “I have exercised my clemency power more than any recent predecessor has at this point in their presidency,” Biden said on Friday. “And while today’s announcement marks important progress, my Administration will continue to review clemency petitions and deliver reforms that advance equal justice, address racial disparities, strengthen public safety, and enhance the wellbeing of all Americans.”