Pressley Has Urged Biden to Use Clemency to Address Mass Incarceration

WASHINGTON – Today, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) issued the following statement on President Biden’s granting pardons to 39 people and commutations to nearly 1,500 people. Congresswoman Pressley has repeatedly urged the President to use clemency to address mass incarceration, reunite families, and set our nation on a pathway to healing.

“I applaud President Biden for granting pardons to 39 individuals and commuting the sentences of nearly 1,500 individuals on home confinement, demonstrating the power of clemency to address systemic injustices, reunite families, and set our nation on a path to healing. 

“By taking this meaningful and historic action, President Biden is changing the lives of nearly 1,500 people and ensuring they can remain in community with their loved ones. People on home confinement are disproportionately elderly, chronically ill, pose no threat to public safety, and have successfully reintegrated into their communities.

“Thanks to President Biden, today a near 1,500 families will have their lives changed forever and I congratulate each and every family on this new beginning. With 39 days remaining in his presidency, President Biden has the power to continue to use his clemency authority to change and save the lives of many, many other Americans behind the wall. It is the right thing to do, it is the moral thing to do, and it is a matter of legacy.”

Last month, Congresswoman Pressley, along with Reps. James E. Clyburn and Mary Gay Scanlon sent a letter to President Biden urging him take clemency action before leaving office, and she reiterated that call following the President’s use of his pardon authority last week.

This week, on Human Rights Day, Congresswoman Pressley held a press conference to renew their calls for President Biden to use his clemency authority to commute the death sentences of the 40 individuals on federal death row and resentence them to a prison term.

Congresswoman Pressley has been a steadfast champion for a more just and equitable criminal legal system and has introduced legislation to fix our nation’s broken clemency system.

On June 19, 2023, Juneteenth, Rep. Pressley re-introduced the People’s Justice Guarantee, a comprehensive, decarceration-focused resolution that outlines a framework for a fair, equitable and just legal system.

In December 2021, Rep. Pressley, along with Reps. Cori Bush (MO-01) and Hakeem Jeffries (NY-08) and grassroots advocates, unveiled the Fair and Independent Experts in Clemency (FIX Clemency) Act, historic legislation to transform our nation’s broken clemency system and address the growing mass incarceration crisis. 

In October 2022, Rep. Pressley issued a statement applauding President Biden’s executive action pardoning thousands of people for simple possession of marijuana.

In May 2022, Rep. Pressley. Along with Reps. Mary Gay Scanlon, David Joyce, and Kelly Armstrong urged Pardon Attorney Elizabeth Oyer to release disaggregated demographic data on the more than 17,000 pending clemency applications to better understand the current broken clemency process and address its impacts on constituents and communities.

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