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Two recent letters to the editor of this paper lamented pardons or commutations issued by President Biden during his last days in office. The writers of these letters were silent on Trump's blanket pardoning of convicted felons involved in the January 6th storming of the capitol. The two sets of pardons/commutations could hardly be more different.
President Biden is accused by today's writers in the following terms: "…of the 40 vicious felons put on death row by citizen juries, [he] has nullified 37 of those lawful decisions." The 37 people on death row that this refers to did not have their convictions "nullified." They were prisoners on death row in federal penitentiaries. Their sentences were changed to life in prison with no possibility of parole. Three of the 40 were excluded from this, including the Boston Marathon murderer and the murderer of members of the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. President Biden's motivation was the belief, held by a majority of Americans, that the government should not be in the business of executing people.
As far as President Biden's other pardons and commutations, they went to non-violent drug offenders, people who had shown themselves capable of rehabilitation even in our "justice" system with its focus on retribution. And a subset of these were Black people given "disproportionately long sentences," something not unheard of in our "justice" system.
But look at Trump's pardons, blanket pardons it might be added. They went to 1500 people involved in the January 6th riots, including those convicted of assaulting police officers, undeniably violent crimes that resulted in the wounding of over 500 police officers, five of whom died. Surely this is a slap in the face of officers Trump has claimed to support. His VP, JD Vance, had said those convicted of violence "obviously" shouldn't be pardoned. He's become quiet on the subject-he knows the piper whose tune he dances to.
And Trump pardoned Stewart Rhodes of the Oath Keepers. He was serving 18 years for seditious conspiracy because of his involvement in the riots. And Enrique Tarrio of the Proud Boys will not be serving his 22 years for the same crime.
So there we have it: President Biden pardoned or commuted the sentences of or removed from death row people whose crimes were committed against individuals. Trump has let loose criminals who attacked our democratic culture itself and will now feel empowered to continue their attacks on America and therefore on all of us.
ELLEN A. BLAIS
Mansfield
Submitted by Virtual Newsroom