Making the case that "Biden Needs to Work on His Clemency Legacy"

The quoted portion of the title of this post is the headline of this New York Times commentary authored by Rachel Barkow and Mark Osler.  I recommend the piece in full, and here are excerpts:

End-of-term clemency chaos has become an unfortunate presidential tradition, as presidents scramble after ignoring this crucial power for most of their time in office. That is how we ended up with Bill Clinton unloading 140 pardons on his last day in office, including one to the wholly undeserving Marc Rich, a fugitive financier; George W. Bush wrecking his relationship with Dick Cheney by refusing at the last minute to give a full pardon to Scooter Libby, Mr. Cheney’s chief of staff, for obstructing a federal investigation; and Donald Trump issuing pardons to undeserving cronies and celebrities.

Mr. Biden has granted 25 pardons and commuted the sentences of 131 other people, according to the most recent Justice Department data. That is a mere 1.4 percent of the petitions he has received, based on our analysis. No modern U.S. president, going back to Richard Nixon, has had a rate so low; though of course, Mr. Biden is still in office.

In addition, he has granted pardons by proclamation to people convicted of the possession and “simple use” of marijuana on federal lands and in the District of Columbia, and to about 2,000 veterans who were convicted of engaging in gay sex under a military code that outlawed the behavior for more than 60 years. (Pardons by proclamation to a class of people are not included in Justice Department data.)...

Hopefully, Mr. Biden will avoid the missteps made by some of his recent predecessors (particularly by Mr. Trump) and focus on the pending petitions filed by people who followed the rules and submitted them through official channels. If there is a petition at the White House with a positive recommendation, it should be granted without further deliberation. It has already run a gauntlet of review that included the U. S. attorney for the district where the petitioner was convicted, the U.S. Deputy Attorney General, the staff at the Domestic Policy Council and the White House counsel. Isn’t that review enough?

Recent related post from MLP&R:

• Making the case to Prez Biden with candidates for cannabis clemency