CONTACT: Mariah McGough, mariah@vocal-us.org
VOCAL-US URGES PRESIDENT BIDEN TO TAKE FURTHER ACTION ON PARDONS & COMMUTATIONS
NEW YORK — Today, in response to news that President Biden granted clemency for nearly 1,500 people and pardoned 39 others, VOCAL-US released the following statement, attributable to Neil Berry, a leader with VOCAL-NY, a state chapter of VOCAL-US:
“We are so happy for the people who will benefit from these pardons and stay connected with their families and communities as a result. But we must push further, as this is only the tip of the iceberg of what needs to happen. I know from my own wrongful conviction how a sentence can have dark and terrible consequences for decades after release. It’s great to see thousands granted clemency, but people deserve their convictions erased as well.
If we really are a nation of second chances, like the President claims, we shouldn’t split hairs over mistakes of the past when people have taken accountability. President Biden still has time to change lives, right the wrongs of the past, and change his legacy. Our message to the President: keep going.”
BACKGROUND:
Anti-Drug bills of the 1980’s and the 1994 Crime Bill have inflicted enormous harms on Black, Brown, Indigenous, and poor communities through its punitive and draconian sentencing provisions. Granting clemency is one step in repairing the harms caused by these racist, misguided laws.
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