On his final full day in office, President Joe Biden made a major move, issuing five pardons and reducing the sentence of two individuals. Among those granted clemency was late political activist and Black nationalist Marcus Garvey, who was a staple in the civil rights movement.
“America is a country built on the promise of second chances,” Biden said in a statement. “As President, I have used my clemency power to make that promise a reality by issuing more individual pardons and commutations than any other President in U.S. history. Today, I am exercising my clemency power to pardon five individuals and commute the sentences of two who have demonstrated remorse, rehabilitation, and redemption.”
As a prominent civil rights leader, Garvey was convicted of mail fraud in 1923 and received a five-year prison sentence, which was reduced by President Coolidge in 1927. For years, advocates have claimed that Garvey’s conviction was a move to suppress his influence as the founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and the Black Star Line, the first Black-owned international shipping line. While making the pardon, Biden’s administration highlighted Garvey’s impact and mentioned Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. describing him as “the first man of color in the history of the United States to lead and develop a mass movement.”
Additionally, outside of Garvey, Biden also pardoned Ravidath “Ravi” Ragbir, an immigrant rights activist who was convicted of a nonviolent crime in 2001; Kemba Smith Pradia, a criminal justice reform advocate convicted of a drug offense in 1994, whose sentence was previously reduced by President Bill Clinton in 2000. In addition to the pardons, Biden reduced the sentences of Michelle West and Robin Peoples, both who were serving lengthy prison sentences for nonviolent crimes.
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