Published on: Wednesday, May 18, 2022

A bipartisan group of US House lawmakers are demanding information on the backlog of over 17,000 people seeking presidential clemency, a power Joe Biden pledged during his 2020 campaign to use to advance criminal justice reform (article available here).

“The growing backlog of clemency petitions undermines the promise of a fair and just criminal legal system,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter Tuesday to Elizabeth Oyer, who leads to the Justice Department’s Office of the Pardon Attorney.

The lawmakers asked for a full report from Oyer by June 7 that includes data on the demographics of applicants, submission dates and wait time, relief sought and offenses, among other things.

There are 17,399 pending clemency petitions, according to Oyer’s office, most dating from previous administrations. The Biden administration has received 5,892 since January 2021.

The lawmakers argued that the applicants include individuals incarcerated under outdated sentencing guidelines or for actions that are no longer considered crimes. The backlog also includes people who served their sentences but continue to “face harsh collateral consequences,” they wrote. 

Clemency “remains a significant tool to rectify injustices and reduce prison populations. The federal government has a responsibility to ensure the clemency process is unfettered and accessible to all,” the letter says.

In April, Biden issued the first round of pardons and commutations of his administration, pardoning three people and commuting the sentences of 75 nonviolent drug offenders. 

Between 2012 and 2016, Black men received 19.1% longer sentences for the same federal crimes as White men, according to a 2017 US Sentencing Commission report. Another 2017 report from National Registration of Exonerations found Black people are more likely to be wrongfully convicted than White people and receive longer sentences.

“Every application represents a person, a family, and a community,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter. “And every delayed response represents a miscarriage of justice, a dysfunctional process, and a policy failure in desperate need of repair.”