Biden faces pressure from Hill Democrats to grant clemency for drug crimes

Hill Democrats are pressuring President Joe Biden to shorten the sentences of thousands of federal prisoners incarcerated for drug crimes before he leaves office.

Seven members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) sent a letter to Biden dated Oct. 21 urging him to commute prison sentences that would have been shorter under the 2018 First Step Act.

That legislation, passed during President-elect Donald Trump’s first term, reduced mandatory minimum sentences for some drug offenses. But the sentencing reductions did not apply to people already convicted for those crimes.

The group of Democrats, led by Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin, is urging Biden to categorically lower the sentences of these offenders so they match what they would have received under the new law. In some cases, these people would be freed.

Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), who signed the letter, said Biden should move fast.

“This Administration has the opportunity to deliver justice to incarcerated people who were sentenced under overly harsh mandatory minimums that the bipartisan First Step Act corrected,” he said in a statement. “President Biden should heed our call and use the power of executive clemency while he has it.”

The letter also urged Biden to lessen the sentences of people convicted for crimes related to crack cocaine who would face less time in prison if those crimes involved powder cocaine. And it pushed the president to restart President Barack Obama’s clemency initiative, which granted clemency to nearly 1,700 people who met certain qualifications.

The letter came just weeks before Election Day. But it reflects concerns that have only intensified since Trump won the White House. Though Trump signed the landmark sentencing bill as president, he later indicated that he regretted positioning himself as a criminal justice reformer.