Joe Biden commutes sentences of nearly 2,500 non-violent drug offenders

Joe Biden, who leaves office next week, announced on Friday he was commuting the sentences of nearly 2,500 people convicted of non-violent drug offences, saying he had now issued more individual pardons and commutations than any predecessor.

The US president said in a statement that those benefiting from Friday’s action were “serving disproportionately long sentences compared to the sentences they would receive today under current law, policy and practice”.

The move provides clemency relief to individuals who were sentenced based on discredited distinctions between crack and powder cocaine, and outdated sentencing enhancements for drug crimes, according to the statement issued by the White House.

The unprecedented wave of commutations reflects a last-minute push by the Biden administration to remedy what critics have long described as systemic inequities in federal drug sentencing.

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