President Joe Biden has issued the first pardons and commutations of his presidency. On Tuesday, the president pardoned three individuals and commuted federal sentences of 75 more. While pardons are often aimed at showing compassion or redressing mistakes in individual cases, Biden’s choices were specifically made to be part of a larger, more systemic reevaluation of how the criminal justice system works in the U.S.
Biden pardoned a barrier-breaking Secret Service agent
Perhaps the most notable of Biden’s three pardons went to Abraham Bolden Sr., who had his conviction on bribery charges wiped away. Bolden was the first Black Secret Service agent to serve on a presidential detail, guarding President John F. Kennedy. In 1964, Bolden was arrested and charged with bribery for allegedly attempting to sell a Secret Service file.
After his first trial ended with a hung jury, Bolden was convicted in his second trial. Even though he has maintained his innocence and witnesses against him have later admitted to lying on behalf of the prosecution, Bolden served several years in prison and maintained a federal criminal record until Biden’s pardon. Bolden, now 86, spent years after his release speaking on the prejudices he faced in the Secret Service and received various awards for his work fighting against racism.
Biden also pardoned two people convicted of drug distribution
Biden’s other two pardons went to Betty Jo Bogans, a 51-year-old single mother in Texas, and Dexter Jackson, a 52-year-old Athens, Ga. resident. Both were convicted of drug distribution during the tough-on-crime era. Bogans had no criminal record before 1998, when she was convicted of transporting marijuana for her boyfriend. She served seven years in federal prison.
Jackson owned a pool hall, which he used to facilitate drug deals, according to charges for which he was convicted in 2002. Since being released from prison, he has founded a cell phone repair service and engaged in various community service activities.
Biden uses his commutations as part of larger reforms to the criminal justice system
In addition to these pardons, Biden commuted the sentences of 75 individuals. As listed on the White House website, all of these individuals had been convicted of drug charges, generally related to distributing drugs, including marijuana, crack cocaine and methamphetamines. These convictions occurred under federal anti-drug laws that Biden played a large role in passing in the 1990s, which subsequently contributed to mass incarceration.
In recent years, there has been a bipartisan effort to reform drug laws and other aspects of the criminal justice system. In 2019, then-President Donald Trump signed the First Step Act into law to reduce disparities in drug laws that disproportionately punished Black and brown drug offenders. Biden made his clemency announcement as part of a larger effort to reintegrate offenders into society, including $145 million in employment training for incarcerated individuals, among other measures.
Biden was applauded for his decision as calls for greater clemency reform continue
The ability to pardon or commute sentences for federal crimes is one of the Constitution’s most broad and sometimes controversial presidential powers. As such, presidential pardons often come under intense scrutiny, with presidents often issuing the bulk of them during their final days in office to limit any political fallout from their decisions. The New York Times reports that Biden has already issued clemency to more people than any of the five previous administrations did at this point in their presidencies, and Biden has indicated more reforms, such as an executive order on policing, to come.
Rep Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) applauded Biden’s pardons and commutations and pledged that she “remain[s] committed to passing critical legislation, like our #FIXClemency Act, to transform our clemency process & help end mass incarceration.”
The power of clemency & redemption is profound.
I’m thrilled that @POTUS is heeding our calls for bold action & pathways to healing, & I remain committed to passing critical legislation, like our #FIXClemency Act, to transform our clemency process & help end mass incarceration. https://t.co/E0qmYCLwmO
— Ayanna Pressley (@AyannaPressley) April 26, 2022
Pressley, along with Reps. Cori Bush (D-MO) and Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) are co-sponsors of the Fair and Independent Experts in Clemency (FIX Clemency) Act. According to a press release issued by Bush’s office, this proposed legislation would establish an independent panel appointed by the president, including at least one formerly incarcerated person, that would review clemency applications. This proposed U.S. Clemency Board would aim to clear a backlog of 18,000 clemency requests that are currently pending and work toward lessening mass incarceration in the country. If this bill passes, pardons and commutations like those just issued by Biden may become a regular occurrence, aiming to right many wrongs in the federal criminal justice system.
