美国总统乔·拜登(Joe Biden)周二宣布，他赦免了三名“表现出致力于改过自新”的人，其中包括86岁的亚伯拉罕·w·博尔登(Abraham W. Bolden Sr .)，他是第一位为总统服务的黑人特勤局特工。
总统还对以下人员减刑75人他们因非暴力毒品犯罪正在服长期徒刑。
“美国是一个法律、第二次机会、救赎和康复的国家。拜登在一份声明中说:“两党的民选官员、宗教领袖、民权倡导者和执法领导人都同意，我们的刑事司法系统能够也应该反映这些核心价值观，让社区变得更安全、更强大。”。
周二的行动是拜登在总统任期内第一次使用他的赦免权，此前倡导者和进步民主党人敦促总统履行他期待已久的竞选承诺，利用他的行政权力解决刑事司法系统中的大规模监禁和种族差异问题，这场危机通过1994年《犯罪法案》等政策加速，当时的参议员拜登起草了全面的立法，专家们现在认为这对有色人种产生了不成比例的影响。
拜登将他的仁慈行政行为吹捧为“重要的进步”。
“我的政府将继续审查赦免申请，并实施改革，促进公平和正义，提供第二次机会，并提高所有美国人的福祉和安全，”总统说。
虽然倡导者和刑事司法专家称赞拜登的仁慈行为，但一些专家告诉ABC新闻，这些措施没有确保简化流程，以解决积压的请求对非暴力罪犯给予仁慈的请愿书。
“今天有78人获得了某种形式的赦免，这很好，但这与总统办公桌上悬而未决的18，000份请愿书的背景无关，”NYU法学院Brennan Center for Justice的高级律师Ames Grawert说。“总统需要制定一个制度，确保数以千计的请愿书得到认真彻底的审查和应有的重视。我不清楚目前的流程能否胜任这项任务。”
除了特赦行动之外，拜登政府还公布了扩大经济机会的计划，并为以前被监禁的人放宽了重返监狱的限制。
无数的新措施包括投资1.45亿美元用于监狱设施局(Bureau of population facilities)被定罪的重罪犯的职业培训项目，这将通过司法部和劳工部的合作来完成。政府还计划扩大释放后的就业机会，获得小企业贷款投资，以及高等教育。
来自的分析2017年的一份报告来自国家重返社会资源中心的研究表明，循证重返社会政策和项目已被证明可以改善以前被监禁的人的结果。
拜登政府的国内政策顾问苏珊·赖斯(Susan Rice)在白宫与前被监禁的美国人举行的圆桌会议上称赞这些新措施时说，“我们今天采取的行动将对那些试图找到工作、找到一个安全和负担得起的地方与他们的孩子一起生活并重新站起来的人产生真正的影响。”。
Biden pardons 3 people, reduces sentences for 75 non-violent drug offenders
President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that he pardoned three people who have “demonstrated a commitment to rehabilitation,” including 86-year-old Abraham W. Bolden Sr., who was the first Black Secret Service agent to serve on a presidential detail.
The president also commuted the sentences of75 peoplewho are currently serving long sentences for non-violent drug offenses.
“America is a nation of laws and second chances, redemption, and rehabilitation. Elected officials on both sides of the aisle, faith leaders, civil rights advocates, and law enforcement leaders agree that our criminal justice system can and should reflect these core values that enable safer and stronger communities,” Biden said in a statement.
Tuesday’s action was the first time Biden used his clemency powers during his presidency and came after advocates and progressive Democrats urged the president to fulfill his long-awaited campaign promise to use his executive authority to address mass incarceration and racial disparities in the criminal justice system, a crisis that was accelerated through policies like the 1994 crime bill, sweeping legislation authored by then-Sen. Biden that experts now say disproportionately impacted people of color.
Biden touted his clemency executive action as “important progress.”
“My administration will continue to review clemency petitions and deliver reforms that advance equity and justice, provide second chances, and enhance the wellbeing and safety of all Americans,” the president said.
While advocates and criminal justice experts have praised Biden’s clemency actions, some experts told ABC News the measures fall short of ensuring a streamlined process to address the backlog of petitions requesting clemency grants to nonviolent offenders.
“It's great that 78 people received clemency in some form today, but it fades into the background of 18,000 petitions pending on the President’s desk,” said Ames Grawert, senior counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law School. “The President needs to come up with a system for ensuring that those thousands of petitions receive a careful and thorough review and the attention they deserve. It's not clear to me that the current process is up to the task."
In addition to the clemency actions, the Biden administration released plans to expand economic opportunities and ease reentry for formerly incarcerated individuals.
The myriad of new measures include a $145 million-dollar investment in job training programs for convicted felons in Bureau of Prison facilities, which will be done through collaboration between the Department of Justice and the Department of Labor. The administration also plans to expand employment opportunities post release, access to small business loan investments, as well as higher education.
Analysis froma 2017 reportfrom the National Reentry Resource Center reveals that evidence-based reentry policies and programs have been shown to improve the outcomes of formerly incarcerated individuals.
“The actions we're taking today will have a real impact for someone trying to land a job, find a safe and affordable place to live with their children and get back on their feet,” Susan Rice, Domestic Policy Advisor for the Biden administration, said while praising the new measures during a White House Roundtable with formerly incarcerated Americans.
