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President Joe Biden is facing mounting criticism from civil rights groups, criminal justice reform advocates, and Black community leaders following his decision to pardon his son, Hunter Biden, while many Black Americans remain incarcerated for nonviolent offenses.
This move has reignited calls for Biden to fulfill his campaign promise to reduce mass incarceration and address systemic inequalities in the justice system.
To date, President Biden has pardoned 26 individuals, including his son — a number far lower than President-elect Trump, who granted 144 pardons during his first term. Activists like Angela Rye argue that Biden owes a debt to Black Americans, particularly Black women, who played a pivotal role in his 2020 election victory.
"When you consider the many ways in which Black women — Black people — carried him across the finish line, risked their very lives with the pandemic and after George Floyd’s murder on camera for nine minutes and 30 seconds, he owes Black people their freedom," Rye said.
A presidential pardon restores certain civil liberties and reduces the social stigma of a federal conviction, but it does not erase the crime from one’s record or imply innocence. However, the pardon of Hunter Biden, which Biden had previously stated he would not grant, has sparked outrage.
Progressive lawmakers like Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) are now pressuring Biden to offer similar clemency to thousands of nonviolent offenders and those on federal death row.
At a recent press conference, Pressley highlighted the racial disparities in the justice system, noting that President Biden has a "moral obligation" to reduce the federal prison population and follow through on his campaign pledge to reform mass incarceration. "With the stroke of a pen, the president can offer these individuals the dignity and redemption they deserve. We urge him to act now," Pressley stated.
The data is clear. Although Black Americans make up only 14% of the U.S. population, they represent 39% of the incarcerated population, according to the Bureau of Prisons. Black men receive sentences that are, on average, 13% longer than white men for similar crimes, and they are less likely to receive probation, according to a five-year analysis by the U.S. Sentencing Commission.
Additionally, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) reports that over half of inmates serving life without parole are Black, and 65% of those serving life for nonviolent offenses are also Black. These disparities have fueled demands for Biden to prioritize clemency for Black inmates, with activists urging him to address both sentencing disparities and the use of the federal death penalty.
Biden’s White House has defended his approach, with press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre recently stating that "there’s a process" in place and promising that more pardons would be announced before Biden leaves office.
“We’re trying to figure out the next steps in this, and you’ll hear from the president on this in the next couple of weeks,” Jean-Pierre said, emphasizing Biden's previous clemency efforts as proof of his commitment.
Yet, critics like Daniel Landsman, vice president of policy at Families Against Mandatory Minimums, believe Biden has "just not really met the moment yet on clemency." Landsman argues that this period represents Biden's last chance to make a lasting impact on criminal justice reform. "This is his last opportunity to really cement a legacy on criminal justice reform that he can point at and say, ‘Here was my contribution to this field,’" he said.
Landsman also noted that the pardon of Hunter Biden has added a "new, interesting layer" to the broader clemency debate. "What we’re asking is, in essence, for him to extend the same emotions … coming into him as he looks at his son’s conviction and applying that to thousands of American families," he added.
Other reform advocates, including the Brennan Center for Justice, are actively petitioning Biden to grant more clemencies before his term ends on January 20. Lauren-Brooke Eisen, senior director of the center’s justice program, said her organization remains "optimistic and hopeful" that Biden will take action before leaving office.
"Granting clemencies is one of the most important efforts that this administration can do before President Trump takes office," Eisen said, noting that executive orders can be rescinded, but clemency grants cannot.
Concerns have also grown over the incoming Trump administration’s stance on the death penalty. During Trump’s first term, his administration executed 13 people — the most federal executions in more than 120 years.
His administration also amended federal execution protocols, paving the way for harsher methods like death by firing squad, electrocution, and nitrogen hypoxia. Advocates fear a return to such policies under a second Trump term.
During his 2020 campaign, Biden promised to abolish the death penalty and declared his opposition to the practice. While his administration halted federal executions, the Justice Department under his watch continued to defend existing death sentences and seek new ones.
Currently, 40 people remain on federal death row, with Black Americans accounting for 40% of that population. Studies show that Black defendants are more than four times as likely to be sentenced to death than non-Black defendants.
Lawmakers like Rep. Pressley argue that Biden must act before Trump takes office, especially regarding the death penalty. "State-sanctioned murder is not justice," Pressley said.
"President Biden has an opportunity and an obligation to save lives and make good on his campaign promise to address the federal death penalty before leaving office." The window for Biden to act is closing fast, and for many activists, the time to deliver on his promises is now.
