Joe Biden grants amnesty to Americans convicted of non-violent drug trafficking

After more than a year in office, U.S. President Joe Biden yesterday granted amnesty to 75 people whose criminal records include federal convictions for non-violent drug trafficking.

The President commuted the sentences of 75 people who had been placed under house arrest during the coronavirus pandemic. This is the first clemency measure taken by Joe Biden, a long-awaited step by human rights advocates and lawmakers and one on which the administration has been repeatedly pressed.

Although this is not the’mass amnesty demanded by militants, is a first step towards the realization of a Joe Biden's campaign promise.

«America is a nation of laws and second chances, of redemption and rehabilitation,» Joe Biden said in a press release.

«Elected officials on both sides of the aisle, faith leaders, civil rights advocates and law enforcement officials agree that our criminal justice system can and should reflect those core values that make for safer, stronger communities.»

Today, I am pardoning three people who are striving every day to give back and contribute to their communities. I am also commuting the sentences of 75 people who are serving long sentences for non-violent drug offenses.

- President Biden (@POTUS) April 26, 2022

The president said that many of the people he pardons «would have received a lighter sentence if they had been charged with the same offense today, thanks to bipartisan legislation First Step Act« enacted by his predecessor, President Donald Trump.

In addition to the 75 sentence commutations, Mr. Biden also granted three pardons.

The American President continues to oppose the legalization of cannabis, despite growing bipartisan support for this policy change. The White House does, however, seem willing to provide some relief to those caught up in the war on drugs that Joe Biden himself has helped perpetuate when he was a senator.