Byrnes-Jackson pleaded guilty to possession and sale of spirits without tax stamps when he was 18, and it involved a single illegal whiskey transaction.
In a move to show people deserve a second chance, President Joe Biden has granted pardons to six people who have served out sentences for convictions on a murder charge and drug- and alcohol-related crimes. Among them is an 80-year-old woman convicted of killing her abusive husband about a half-century ago and a man who pleaded guilty to using a telephone for a cocaine transaction in the 1970s.
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Biden’s stance on low-level crimes, particularly low-level drug possession, and how those crimes can impact families and communities for decades has evolved over his 50 years in public service. The pardons come a few months after the president pardoned thousands of people convicted of “simple possession” of marijuana under federal law. He also pardoned three people earlier this year and has commuted the sentences of 75 others.
The woman’s appeal was among the first by someone with battered woman syndrome, and her case has been studied by academics. The man had served honorably in the U.S. Army and the Army Reserves and had received numerous awards before the offense. In the 1990s, he supported crime legislation that increased arrest and incarceration rates for drug crimes, particularly for Black and Latino people.
Biden has said people are right to question his stance on the bill, but he also has encouraged them to look at what he’s doing now on crime.
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