The president said he has used more clemency power than any of his predecessors, while announcing more pardons on Friday.
President Joe Biden bragged about pardoning more people than former President Donald Trump, with the addition of almost a dozen more clemency actions ahead of the Christmas holiday.
Biden issued a proclamation on Friday pardoning certain marijuana offenses, building on his earlier action from last year on the issue. He also granted clemency for 11 individuals serving jail sentences for non-violent drug offenses, including some that received mandatory life sentences who he said would have been eligible for significantly lower sentences if they had been charged with the same offense today.
« I have exercised my clemency power more than any recent predecessor has at this point in their presidency, » Biden said in a statement announcing the action.
Clemency power encompasses commutations, which reduce sentences without exonerating an individual, and pardons, which relieve a person of all guilt for crimes committed.
A 2021 Pew Research Center analysis shows that while he was in office, Trump used his clemency power less often than nearly every other modern president, granting a total of 237 acts of clemency during his four years, comprising 143 pardons and 94 commutations.
