President Joe Biden is commuting the sentences of 31 people with nonviolent drug offenses as part of a wider effort to reform the criminal justice system.
(Bloomberg) — President Joe Biden is commuting the sentences of 31 people with nonviolent drug offenses as part of a wider effort to reform the criminal justice system.
The commutations — announced Friday — are part of a broader effort on prison rehabilitation and reentry that includes dozens of actions across more than 20 agencies, said Susan Rice, Biden’s top domestic policy adviser.
“When a crime occurs, a sentence should both reflect the seriousness of the crime and provide a chance at meaningful rehabilitation and successful reentry,” Rice told reporters. “Leaders on both sides of the aisle have recognized that these steps are not just the right thing to do. They’re the smart thing to do to make our communities safer and stronger, to empower people, communities, our economy, and our nation as a whole.”
The 31 people receiving clemency, whose names the White House released Friday, were previously serving home confinement sentences, senior officials said. Their clemencies include stipulations of supervised release and home confinement until their commutation date.
The group includes people from over a dozen states. Four of the offenses were related to the intended distribution of cannabis, which despite its growing legalization by states is still classified as a Schedule-1 drug on the federal level, while others relate to cocaine and methamphetamine charges. Those affected would have likely received lower sentences based on current law.
As part of the broader plan, the Department of Justice will work to ensure voting rights and and to seal, expunge and vacate the juvenile records of some people in rehabilitation. The department first unveiled its guide for state voting rules in May 2022.
The program also includes the Department of Education’s plans to allow incarcerated people to use Pell Grants toward prison education programs, which will go into effect July 1. Other changes impact the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Small Business Administration, and the agency that handles Medicare and Medicaid services to better support formerly incarcerated people as they reenter society.
“By investing in crime prevention and a fairer criminal justice system, we can tackle the root causes of crime, improve individual and community outcomes, and ease the burden on police,” Rice said. “Taken together, our collective efforts will move us toward a safer, stronger, and more just America.”
The plan comes days after the White House announced that Rice would step down from her post in May.
(Updates with additional information on the people whose sentences are being commuted in paragraphs four and five.)
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