---
title: "Biden commutes more sentences, this time for 2,500 non-violent drug offenders"
description: "Jan 17 (Reuters) - President Joe Biden, who leaves office next week, announced on Friday that he was commuting the sentences of nearly 2,500 people convicted of non-violent drug offenses, saying he has now issued more individual pardons and commutations than any predecessor."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "Biden administration"
author: "Reuters"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/reuters/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-01-17-biden-commutes-more-sentences-this-time-for-2500-non-violent-drug-offenders/"
published: "2025-01-17T12:22:51"
updated: "2025-01-17T12:22:53"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 253
---

# Biden commutes more sentences, this time for 2,500 non-violent drug offenders

> Jan 17 (Reuters) - President Joe Biden, who leaves office next week, announced on Friday that he was commuting the sentences of nearly 2,500 people convicted of non-violent drug offenses, saying he has now issued more individual pardons and commutations than any predecessor.

By Reuters · Published 17 January 2025, 14:22 SAST · Updated 17 January 2025, 14:22 SAST

## Key points
- In a move that echoes the age-old adage of "better late than never," Biden is finally rolling back the draconian drug sentences of yesteryear, giving a second chance to those who’ve been unfairly shackled by outdated laws—just as his son’s legal woes cast a shadow on the family’s newfound commitment to justice.
- Biden's clemency actions aim to address disproportionate sentencing, particularly for those affected by outdated drug laws.
- The President commuted sentences for 37 death row inmates and pardoned 39 non-violent offenders in December.
- Criticism has emerged over Biden's pardon of his son, Hunter, amid ongoing debates about justice reform.
- As his term nears its end, Biden joins a tradition of presidents granting pardons, while Trump hints at clemency for Capitol rioters.

## Content

Those benefiting from Friday's action "are serving disproportionately long sentences compared to the sentences they would receive today under current law, policy, and practice," Biden said in a statement.

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relief to individuals who were sentenced based on discredited distinctions between crack and powder cocaine and outdated sentencing enhancements for drug crimes, according to the statement issued by the White House.

[In December, Biden commuted the sentences for 37 out of 40 federal inmates on death row](https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL4N3NO005&linkedFromStory=true), converting them to life in prison without parole, ahead of President-elect Donald Trump returning to the Oval Office on Jan. 20.

[He also announced in the same month that he was pardoning 39 people](https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL4N3ND0OR&linkedFromStory=true) convicted of non-violent crimes and commuting the sentences of nearly 1,500 others who were serving long prison terms.

Biden has faced criticism for [pardoning his son, Hunter](https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AS0N3HW02C&linkedFromStory=true), who had pleaded guilty to tax violations and was convicted on firearms-related charges.

Defense attorneys and civil rights groups had ramped up efforts to highlight compelling cases and launched campaigns to help those they believe were wrongly convicted or are serving excessive terms for nonviolent offenses.

Presidents typically order a round of pardons toward the end of their time in office.

Trump has promised to grant clemency to at least some of his supporters who stormed the US Capitol on 6 January 2021 in a failed bid to block Congress from certifying Biden's 2020 election victory.

(Reporting by Costas Pitas in Los Angeles; Editing by Mary Milliken and Christopher Cushing)