Biden pardons 1,500 criminals

President Joe Biden has commuted the sentences of nearly 1,500 criminals and pardoned 39 others convicted of non-violent crimes, in what the White House called the largest single-day act of clemency in US history.

“I am pardoning 39 people who have shown successful rehabilitation,” Biden said in a statement, adding that he was also “commuting the sentences of nearly 1,500 people who are serving long prison sentences.”

The White House said the nearly 1,500 people granted commuted sentences — “the most ever in a single day” — had been serving them at home for at least one year.

“America was built on the promise of possibility and second chances,” Biden said. “As President, I have the great privilege of extending mercy to people who have demonstrated remorse and rehabilitation.”

Biden this month faced criticism for issuing an official pardon for his son Hunter, who was facing sentencing for two criminal cases, despite earlier assurances that he would not intervene in his son’s legal troubles.