Biden Pardons Thousands of People Convicted of Marijuana Possession Under Federal Law
New York TimesNov 24, 2022
Biden Commutes 11 Drug Sentences, Pardons Marijuana Offenders
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The Facts
US Pres. Joe Biden announced Friday that he would commute the sentences of 11 people serving decades-long sentences for non-violent drug charges as well as pardon a larger group of people convicted of federal marijuana possession charges.
Explaining its decision to commute the 11 sentences, the White House said some of the individuals were serving life sentences for charges that would be sentenced much less harshly today, such as Earlie Deacon, who was convicted of cocaine distribution.
The Spin
Democratic narrative
Biden is righting not only the wrongs of America's past but of laws that he himself helped pass decades ago. The president now understands what the American people have long understood: Black and Brown people face disproportionately more convictions and longer sentences than their White counterparts. Hopefully, this is the beginning of the end of a system that ruins the lives and career prospects of people who were put away for harmless infractions.
Republican narrative
While prison reform for nonviolent offenses can certainly be debated, this issue shouldn't be about racism. The real data show that the rate of marijuana dependency — a phenomenon discussed by Black intellectuals as far back as W.E.B. Du Bois and Richard Wright — is far higher among Black people than White people. Regarding people in prison today, most of those convicted of so-called nonviolent drug offenses actually pled down from more serious crimes like trafficking or other felonies.
