As a candidate, @JoeBiden promised to deliver justice for communities of color disproportionately incarcerated by a systemically racist justice system. He spoke openly about the problems of policing and prisons, and he offered a comprehensive plan for addressing those problems.
Biden even said he wanted to release every one of the 40,000 people who are incarcerated for marijuana charges, a drug now decriminalized or legal in 27 states and DC. But more than a year into his presidency, he has yet to commute a single such sentence or grant a pardon.
Many people who have served decades in prison have taken responsibility, transformed their lives and pose no public safety risk. The President can show compassion for aging people by expanding clemency, ending their perpetual punishment and reuniting them with their families.
Execution is not justice. During his campaign, President Biden promised he would end the federal death penalty. If he is serious about this promise, he can commute the sentences of each of the 44 people on federal death row.
In the face of the prison system’s brutality action requires a different kind of politics based around the values Biden has extolled in the past. It is not hyperbolic to call such action the emancipation of our lifetime.
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