Biden issues 39 presidential pardons and commutes 1,500 sentences

US President Joe Biden has issued presidential pardons to 39 Americans convicted of non-violent crimes, and commuted the sentences of nearly 1,500 other people.

The White House described it as the most acts of presidential clemency issued in a single day. It comes after Biden made the decision to pardon his own son, Hunter Biden.

The US Constitution decrees that a president has the broad “power to grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the United States, except in cases of impeachment”.

Announcing the move, Biden said those pardoned had “shown successful rehabilitation and have shown commitment to making their communities stronger and safer”.

The White House released a pardon list of 39 people that said the individuals had committed either either a “non-violent offense” or a “non-violent drug offense”. It did not name the specific crimes they were convicted of committing.

Several of those pardoned were individuals who had been released from prison. Many were veterans or they had become community leaders or advocates.

The White House described one pardon recipient as a 49-year-old Virginia resident who was convicted of a drug offence at age 21. After serving his sentence, he went on to earn a university degree, have a successful career in the US Army and Air Force and volunteer for charitable organisations that support veterans.

He is known “as exceptionally hard working, dedicated, and trustworthy by those who know him”, the White House said in a statement that gave short biographies on all those who had received pardons.

The 1,499 commuted sentences includes individuals who were placed in home confinement during the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as those whose sentences Biden deemed to be too long due to outdated laws.

They have “shown that they deserve a second chance”, Biden said of those whose sentences he had commuted.

Biden promised “more steps in the weeks ahead”.

The president will leave the White House on 20 January 2025, when his successor Donald Trump is inaugurated.

Biden previously had a record of pardoning fewer people than most presidents in modern US history.

He had issued a few categorical pardons in the past, however. These are pardons given to a sweeping number of people who fall under a category outlined by the president.

In October 2022, Biden issued a full pardon for those who had been convicted of simple possession of marijuana, and later expanded that to include other marijuana-related offenses.

Earlier this year, Biden issued another full pardon to military personnel and veterans who were convicted of an offence based on their sexual orientation.

Biden’s decision earlier this month to pardon his son, Hunter, continued a trend of presidents on both sides of the US political divide – including Trump – granting clemency to people close to them.

The younger Biden was facing sentencing for two criminal cases for tax fraud and gun crimes.

The move has proven controversial, since the outgoing president previously ruled out doing it. But he claimed the cases against his son were politically motivated.

Biden has also weighed issuing pre-emptive pardons for prominent critics of his successor Trump in a bid to shield them from retribution after the president-elect takes office, but has reportedly been concerned about the precedent it would set.

In a separate development on Thursday, an ex-FBI informant pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, which had led to investigations into the Biden family.

Alexander Smirnov acknowledged that he concocted “fabrications” about Biden and his son accepting bribes from Ukrainian energy firm Burisma. The claim was seized upon by Republicans in Congress as proof of corruption.

Trump granted 237 acts of clemency during his first term in the White House, according to the Pew Research Center. These included 143 pardons and 94 commuted sentences.

Many were in a flurry before he left office.

In recent days, Trump has pledged to issue pardons on his first day in office to people who were convicted for participating in the 6 January 2021 riot on Capitol Hill, in which his supporters tried to block the certification of Biden’s election victory.

He said this week that the pardons would be for people who were “non-violent”.

“A vast majority should not be in jail, and they’ve suffered gravely,” he said in an interview with Time magazine on Thursday.