Bowman to Biden: ‘Pardon the 40 people who are on death row’

Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) is urging President Biden to issue clemency to inmates on death row after the president signed a pardon for his son, Hunter, over the weekend.

“Don‘t stop at Hunter Biden,” Bowman told a CNN panel Monday. “Pardon the 40 people who are on death row right now to get them off of death row, number one.”

“Number two, pardon the 3,000 people who are in federal jail for trumped-up marijuana charges. Pardon them as well so they can get back to their communities and contribute to their economies,” said the New York Democrat who lost his reelection bid during the primary election. “That‘s what the president should do.”

Lawmakers including Reps. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.), Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.) and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) have collectively called on Biden to continue granting clemency to groups convicted of nonviolent drug offenses.

The president granted clemency in October 2022 to individuals convicted of simple marijuana possession offenses. He expanded forgiveness to those charged with possession in December 2023. 

“Now is the time to use your clemency authority to rectify unjust and unnecessary criminal laws passed by Congress and draconian sentences given by judges,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter last month.

“The grant of pardons and commutations and the restoration of rights will undoubtedly send a powerful message across the country in support of fundamental fairness and furthering meaningful criminal justice reform,” they added.

Biden, who consistently pledged that he would stay out of his son’s legal matters, argued the prosecutions of him were political. The White House defended the president’s pardon, pointing to President-elect Trump’s vows of retribution in his next term.

Trump, who has suggested he could issue clemency to rioters charged for their roles in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, attacked Biden over the pardon.

“Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years?” the president-elect wrote Sunday on Truth Social. “Such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!”