Wouldn't pardons and commutations for those who served be a great way for Prez Biden to honor Veterans Day?

The question in the title of this post is inspired by today's national holiday, Veterans Day.  Based on the latest data from Bureau of Justice Statistics, from this March 2021 report "Survey of Prison Inmates, 2016: Veterans in Prison," veterans make up over 5% of the federal prison population (and nearly 8% of state prison populations).  Moreover, as an important new initiative from the Council for Criminal Justice has highlighted, roughly "one third of veterans report having been arrested and booked into jail at least once in their lives, compared to fewer than one fifth of non-veterans."  In other words, at both the federal and state level, there are surely no shortage of justice-involved veterans who could and should be a focus of concern and attention on this important day and for whom clemency consideration would be justified.

Though I am not expecting that Prez Biden will celebrate this Veterans Day by making a special effort to grant commutations or pardons to a special list of veterans, I have long thought criminal justice reform advocates ought to lean into this day by urging the President and all Governors to make a tradition of using clemency powers in this kind of special and distinctive way on this special and distinctive day.  As I have noted before, a key slogan for this day is "honoring  ALL who served," not just those who stayed out of trouble after serving.

Some (or many) prior related posts: 

• Thinking about sentenced troops on Veterans Day
• How many vets, after serving to secure liberty, are now serving LWOP sentences?
• My amicus effort to support our troops 
• Should prior military service reduce a sentence?
• How about a few clemency grants, Prez Obama, to really honor vets in need on Veterans Day?
• "Roughly one in 12 people in America’s prisons and jails is a veteran" 
• Eager to honor our veterans caught up in our nation's massive criminal justice systems 
• Making the case for criminal justice reform as a way to honor those who served on Veterans Day
• New CCJ commission to examine factors driving veterans' involvement in criminal justice system