The tradition of a sitting president issuing clemency and pardons to inmates occurs on the brink of a new administration taking the helm. President Biden continued to make history this week by issuing the largest number of commuted sentences of any other president. Earlier in December, he pardoned his son, Hunter, and received much criticism. He explained that any father would do what he did for his son. Biden’s compassion for his son seemed to overflow this week to about 2,500 other nonviolent drug offenders, who he designated as receiving disproportionate sentences for crack and powder cocaine. A few weeks ago, Biden commuted sentences for around 1,500 people placed on home confinement since the implementation of the CARES Act and reduced sentences of nearly all death row inmates to life terms without parole. His choices continued to bring much criticism from all angles and praise from prison reform advocates. With the newest round of clemency decrees, about 20 of them will impact guys at Morgantown, since they received a 40 month reduction on their sentence. Then, President Biden issued another round of preemptive pardons for possible investigations against individuals under his administration (so to speak), like special prosecutor, Jack Smith, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and his siblings.
Drum Roll And then…a fellow felon, President Trump, swiftly ushered in 1,000+ full pardons for those people indicted, pending prosecution, and convicted of violence during January 6, 2021. President Trump made good on his promise pertaining to pardons for his supporters, J6ers, on the first day. Most of these pardons and commutations by Biden and Trump are politically driven and void of genuine justice. For the men who received a 40-month sentence reduction at Morgantown, only a few of them actually petitioned for it; while a majority of them were simply issued a blanketed commutation without any notice or indication that they would be gifted over 3 years of their time remaining. One interesting legalistic insight about pardons and commutations: in order for an individual to received them, they must accept them with a possible presumption of guilt. When those individuals have gone through the justice system, they are assumed guilty for that which they are pardoned. If they have yet to go through the system or be found guilty, then they are assumed neither guilty or not guilty, like a concession of a “no-contest” or called an Alfred-plea (formally referred to as a nolo contendere). Doesn’t this just make your head spin? These nuances are significant for establishing true innocence. If someone truly believes that he or she is innocent of any allegations, then a pardon does not have to be accepted. Okay, one more interesting fact, a pardon could also occur after someone’s death, which is super rare, and Trump did issue one of these in 2017. Besides establishing a clean slate after death, a post-mortem pardon has significance for insurance payouts, business repercussions/successions, inheritances, and even burial locations (some felons cannot be buried in certain cemeteries).
Many guys ask me if I petitioned Biden or Trump for clemency, and I tell them that I have not and will not. I accept full responsibility for my actions and the sentence I received. While there are many aspects to the process of the justice system that certainly need reformed and absent perfection, I do believe in American justice, even being on the criminal side of it. I’ve done the crime and am doing the time, so I do not need to bother petitioning a president for clemency, which by constitutional standards should only be reserved when all other functions of relief and reduction have been exhausted. As always, I appreciate you taking time and indulging in my rants. I hope you have a warm and safe week…and continue to be mindful of any little miracle in your life 🙂