December 09, 2024
Junfu Han/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Groups including the Philadelphia-based 215 People's Alliance and Amistad Law Project signed an open letter to President Joe Biden calling for mass pardons before his term ends in 2025.
At least a dozen advocacy groups from Philadelphia and Pennsylvania were among 101 organizations that signed an open letter pushing President Joe Biden for mass clemency before his term ends in January.
The signatories are asking for 10,000 pending clemency petitions for people who "suffered under an unjust criminal legal system that disproportionately targets Black, brown, Indigenous, and poor communities." They specifically cite the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, colloquially known as the 1994 Crime Bill, and the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986. Biden supported both measures as a senator and was the primary sponsor of the 1994 Crime Bill.
The letter also asks the president to "immediately commute" the sentences of all 40 people on death row and prioritize the release of Michelle West and Leonard Peltier. West received two life sentences plus 50 years in federal prison for her role in a drug conspiracy, while Peltier was convicted — wrongfully, his supporters say — for killing two FBI agents during a standoff on an American Indian reservation.
The signatories also press for an executive order establishing an independent Clemency Review Board within the executive branch to prevent future backlogs of clemency petitions.
The Philadelphia Community Bail Fund, American Friends Service Committee, Reclaim Philly, Amistad Law Project and 215 People's Alliance signed the letter — as did Pennsylvania chapters of Make the Road, Indivisible and the Working Families Party, among other local groups.
Calls for clemency have intensified since Biden pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, after promising not to do so.
"Exercising your pardon power is just one step in centering care and respect for the human dignity our people and communities are owed, including those who are elderly, sick, and have served decades-long sentences due to mandatory minimums that never allowed for judicial discretion," the letter reads. "Bring our people home."
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