Biden's first pardons ease punishment for non-violent drug crimes
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[April 26, 2022]
By Trevor Hunnicutt
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe
Biden will issue the first pardons of his term on Tuesday, part of a
series of steps aimed at shoring up his record on crime and racial
justice in an election year.
Biden will pardon three people and commute, or reduce, the sentences of
75 more, most of them convicted of non-violent drug crimes, the White
House said.
White House officials are also introducing policies on Tuesday to assist
people who have served time to integrate back into society and reduce
the chance of repeat offenses, including a $145 million job training
program at federal prisons.
The steps fall short of the criminal justice reforms activists want from
the administration, including broadly reducing sentences for non-violent
drug offenses and freeing more of those previously convicted.
The United States has less than 5% of the world's people but a fifth of
its prisoners. Prison populations were reduced in recent years to lower
risks during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The issue carries special weight ahead of the midterm congressional
elections in November, where Democrats' control of the House of
Representatives and Senate are on the line.
Democrats need support from people of color, who are disproportionately
imprisoned. Rising urban crime is expected to be a key issue in the
election, as are labor shortages in a time of high inflation.
"America is a nation of laws and second chances, redemption, and
rehabilitation," Biden said in a statement released on Tuesday. "Helping
those who served their time return to their families and become
contributing members of their communities is one of the most effective
ways to reduce recidivism and decrease crime."
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![](../images/042622PIX/news_g45.jpg)
U.S. President Joe Biden during a speech in the Roosevelt Room at
the White House in Washington, U.S., April 21, 2022. REUTERS/Evelyn
Hockstein/File Photo
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Apr/26/images/ads/current/graue_21CAMARO_100421.png) He said the administration would
continue to review clemency petitions and other efforts to reform
the law enforcement system.
Betty Jo Bogans, 51, is being pardoned after serving a seven-year
sentence stemming from a 1998 conviction for possessing crack
cocaine for her boyfriend, the White House said. Dexter Jackson, 52,
will be pardoned after a 2002 conviction for letting marijuana
distributors use his pool hall.
The people seeing their sentences reduced have already served almost
10 years in prison, on average, for nonviolent drug offenses and
have shown a commitment to rehabilitation, the White House said.
Abraham Bolden, 86, who served as the first Black member of a
president's Secret Service detail under President John F. Kennedy,
is also among those being pardoned.
The Chicago man raised concerns about the readiness of the security
force before facing charges in the 1960s of trying to sell
government information to a counterfeiter. Bolden maintained his
innocence and key witnesses in his trial admitted to lying at the
prosecutor's request, the White House said.
(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
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