Justice - "Disproportionate": Biden pardons offenders
US President Joe Biden has pardoned several criminals who were sentenced to "disproportionately long prison terms" for drug offenses. The White House announced that eleven men and women had been pardoned. They were all once sentenced to decades, in some cases even life imprisonment. According to the current legal situation, the sentences would have been significantly lighter. With this step, Biden is taking into account the principle of equal treatment before the law.
Under federal law, a US president can pardon convicted offenders, even after serving a sentence. In such cases, a pardon is about lifting possible restrictions that apply to former offenders and publicly rehabilitating a person's reputation. Biden has already made use of this option on several occasions.
Biden also ordered that all persons convicted of marijuana possession in the USA at federal level be pardoned. Entries in criminal records for the possession or use of marijuana lead to "unnecessary obstacles" when it comes to employment, housing or educational opportunities, Biden said. Too many lives had been turned upside down by the "misguided approach to the issue".
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Source: www.stern.de
