On Friday, President Biden granted clemency to six individuals, including a battered woman who killed her husband decades ago, a guy who sold untaxed whiskey at age 18, and a former soldier who admitted to using ecstasy.
A White House spokesman stated, “Today, President Biden is awarding six full pardons to individuals who have completed their sentences and proven a dedication to bettering their communities and the lives of those around them.”
“These individuals served honorably in the United States military, volunteer in their communities, and have survived domestic violence.
The official continued, “President Biden believes America is a nation of second chances and that providing real opportunities for atonement and rehabilitation empowers formerly jailed individuals to become productive, law-abiding members of society.”
Biden pardoned Edward De Coito, 50, of Dublin, California, Vincente Flores, 37, of Winters, California, Beverly Ibn-Tamas, 80, of Columbus, Ohio, Charlie Jackson, 77, of Swansea, South Carolina, and John Nock, 72, of St. Augustine, Florida, while on vacation at a donor’s property on St. Croix.
President Biden, who granted amnesty to two turkeys for Thanksgiving, granted amnesty to six people for the New Year.
None of the grantees are currently incarcerated, but the reprieves can mitigate the collateral effects of a conviction on applications for job, housing, guns, and student loans, as well as provide an emotional respite from a blemish on their record.
De Coito received six months in prison for assisting the sale of cocaine 44 years ago and was placed on probation in 1981.
Flores pleaded guilty to becoming drunk and high on ecstasy at age 19 while serving in the Air Force. As a result, he was demoted and sentenced to four months in jail.
Ibn-Tamas shot her husband to death approximately fifty years ago. At the time, she was pregnant and said she was defending herself. She was found guilty of second-degree murder and given a prison term of between one and five years.
Jackson earned five years of probation in 1964 for selling untaxed whiskey, preventing him from joining the Marine Corps, according to a biography issued by the White House.
In the 1990s, Nock received six months of house imprisonment for renting his brother a residence for marijuana cultivation.
During his 36 years in the Senate, Biden, 80, advocated for tough criminal punishments, particularly for drug offenses, earning bipartisan criticism during the 2020 race. Critics assert that regulations drafted by Biden in the 1980s and 1990s contributed to the mass incarceration of minorities and sent some individuals to life in prison for marijuana distribution.
After campaigning in 2015 on a promise to release “everyone” in prison for marijuana, Biden granted one of the greatest mass pardons in U.S. history in October to everyone convicted of simple marijuana possession in federal or municipal DC courts.
Although the cannabis mercy, which was announced just before the midterm elections, granted pardons to an estimated 6,500 federally convicted marijuana offenders, none of the estimated 2,700 federal marijuana offenders incarcerated primarily for selling the substance were released. The omission upset federal marijuana inmates and provoked demonstrations outside the White House.
»Before the new year, Biden pardons six individuals for drug and murder charges«