Biden pardons 5, including late civil rights activist and Virginia Speaker

President Biden on Sunday announced pardons for five individuals, including multiple civil rights advocates, and commuted the sentences of two others.

“America is a country built on the promise of second chances,” Biden said in a statement.
As President, I have used my clemency power to make that promise a reality by issuing more individual pardons and commutations than any other President in U.S. history.

“Today, I am exercising my clemency power to pardon 5 individuals and commute the sentences of 2 individuals who have demonstrated remorse, rehabilitation, and redemption,” he added. “These clemency recipients have each made significant contributions to improving their communities.”

Biden, set to leave office on Monday, announced a posthumous pardon for the late Marcus Garvey, a civil rights leader convicted of mail fraud in 1923. Garvey created the first Black-owned shipping line and founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association. Supporters of a pardon for Garvey had argued his conviction was politically motivated.

Biden also pardoned Don Scott, the Speaker of Virginia’s House of Delegates, who was convicted in 1994 of a non-violent drug offense and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Scott is a Navy veteran who worked as an attorney after his release.

“My journey—from being arrested as a law student to standing here today as the first Black Speaker of the House of Delegates in Virginia’s 405-year history—is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the transformative power of second chances,” Scott said in a statement.

Others to receive a pardon on Sunday included Daryl Chambers, a gun violence prevention advocate who was sentenced to 17 years in prison for a non-violent drug offense in 1998. Chambers is a native of Wilmington, Del., where Biden also resides.

The president also pardoned Ravi Ragbir, an advocate for immigrant rights in New York and New Jersey who was convicted of a non-violent drug offense in 2001. He also pardoned Kemba Smith Pradia, who was sentenced to 24 years in prison in 1994 for a non-violent drug offense. Pradia’s sentence was commuted by then-President Bill Clinton in 200, and she has since worked as a criminal justice and racial equity advocate.

Biden also commuted the sentences of two individuals so that their sentences would end on Feb. 18, the White House said. 

The first, Robin Peoples, is serving a 111-year sentence for crimes he committed in the late 1990s. Peoples would likely face a lower sentence today under current law, and the White House said his clemency petition has received overwhelming support.

Biden also commuted the sentence of Michelle West, who was sentenced to life in prison for crimes committed between 1987 and 1993. The White House said West’s case has received significant support from civil rights activists, fellow inmates and lawmakers.

The president has announced thousands of clemency actions in his final weeks in the White House, most of them focused on non-violent offenders. He also commuted the sentences of many death row inmates to life in prison and issued a full pardon for his son, Hunter Biden.