The White House announced the clemencies Tuesday as it launched a series of job training and reentry programs for those in prison or recently released.
“America is a nation of laws and second chances, redemption, and rehabilitation,” Biden said in a statement announcing the clemencies. “Elected officials on both sides of the aisle, faith leaders, civil rights advocates, and law enforcement leaders agree that our criminal justice system can and should reflect these core values that enable safer and stronger communities.”— Abraham Bolden Sr., 86, the first Black Secret Service agent to serve on a presidential detail.
“I met President Kennedy on April 28, 1961 and on April 25 I got word of the presidential pardon,” said Bolden, who first petitioned the White House for a pardon during the Nixon administration. “That’s pretty close.” After Jackson was released from prison, he converted his business into a cellphone repair service that employs local high school students through a program that provides young adults with work experience. Jackson has built and renovated homes in his community, which has a shortage of affordable housing.
Biden, as head of the Senate Judiciary Committee, helped shepherd through the 1994 crime bill that many criminal justice experts say contributed to harsh sentences and mass incarceration of Black people. Inimai Chettiar, federal director of the criminal justice reform advocacy group Justice Action Network, called Biden’s first pardons and commutations “just modest steps” and urged Biden “to meet the urgency of the moment.”
Some criminal justice advocates are pressing for Biden to act with more haste, calling on the president to establish a permanent clemency review board. More than 18,000 clemency petitions are pending, according to the Justice Department.
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