Biden Granting 1,500 People Clemency Was A Historic Act, But Far More Is Needed

Source: Andrew Harnik / Getty

Waking to the news that President Biden had granted a historic number of clemencies in a single day–1,499–while also granting 39 people pardons wasn’t, to me, at all breathtaking. Rather, it was absolutely breathgiving. 

But as I read more about the decision, I was a bit stunned to read that those being granted clemency–a presidential act that doesn’t erase your record as a pardon does but reduces your sentence–were all already out of prison. They’d...