Fact-check
Did Biden Pardon Violent Offenders?
Biden's mass pardons went to non-violent offenders. He commuted — not pardoned — 37 death row murderers to life without parole, a different legal action that leaves convictions intact.
By The Crosscheck Desk · 2026-08-01
Joe Biden's mass pardons included violent offenders
The question behind the question
The search query "did Biden pardon violent offenders" is asking the right general question, but the claim that his "mass pardons included violent offenders" frames it in a way that obscures what actually happened. The better question has two parts: (1) Did Biden's categorical pardons cover violent crimes? (2) Did any of Biden's clemency actions benefit violent offenders at all?
The answers are: No, and yes — but through commutation, not pardon. Those two actions carry different legal consequences, and conflating them changes the meaning of what occurred.
What Biden actually pardoned
During his four-year term Biden issued 80 pardons in total, fewer than most modern presidents.[1] The large-scale actions that generated headlines were all explicitly confined to non-violent offenses:
Marijuana possession pardons (October 2022, extended 2023). Biden issued a categorical proclamation pardoning all prior federal convictions for simple marijuana possession, affecting more than 6,500 people on federal charges and thousands more under D.C. law.[2] The pardon covered possession only, not distribution, trafficking, or any other offense.
December 12, 2024: 39 individual pardons. Biden pardoned 39 people, all convicted of non-violent crimes. The White House statement describes recipients sentenced under "outdated laws, policies, and practices" for non-violent drug and other offenses.[3]
Preemptive pardons (January 19–20, 2025). In his final hours in office Biden pardoned Dr. Anthony Fauci, retired Gen. Mark Milley, members of the House January 6 Select Committee, and family members.[4] None of those individuals had been charged with any crime, violent or otherwise; Biden said the pardons guarded against what he described as politically motivated future prosecution.
What Biden actually commuted
Commutations are where the picture grows more complicated. Biden issued 4,165 commutations, more than double the total granted by Barack Obama across two terms and more than any president since records have been kept.[1]
December 12, 2024: roughly 1,500 commutations. These went to individuals who had been placed on home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic and had demonstrated rehabilitation. The White House described them as people convicted of non-violent offenses who had "successfully reintegrated into their families and communities."[3][8]
December 23, 2024: 37 federal death row commutations. Biden commuted the death sentences of 37 of 40 people on federal death row, converting each sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole.[5] These individuals were convicted of violent crimes: the killings of police and military officers, murders tied to bank robberies and drug trafficking, killings of prisoners and guards in federal facilities.[9] Trump's transition team condemned the decision, with communications director Steven Cheung calling the commuted inmates "among the worst killers in the world" in a statement that Biden's team did not dispute on the underlying facts.[6] Three inmates were excluded from the commutations: Dylann Roof (nine killed at Mother Emanuel AME Church), Robert Bowers (eleven killed at Tree of Life Synagogue), and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (Boston Marathon bombing) — retained on death row as cases of "terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder."[5]
January 17, 2025: roughly 2,490 commutations. A final wave, setting a single-day record, commuted sentences for people convicted of non-violent drug offenses who were serving disproportionately long terms due to the historical crack-powder cocaine sentencing disparity.[7]
Among all these commutations, the December 23 death row action is the only group that involved violent offenders. But that brings us to the critical legal distinction.
Pardon vs. commutation: the legal gap
Commutation — reduces or eliminates the sentence while leaving the underlying conviction intact. The person remains legally convicted; only the punishment changes.
The 37 death row inmates who received commutations remain convicted murderers. They are not free. They are serving life sentences without possibility of parole in federal prison. Their victims' verdicts stand. The only change is that the federal government will not execute them.
This distinction is why characterizing the death row commutations as "mass pardons" is factually wrong. A pardon of those 37 individuals would have freed them from all legal consequences of their convictions. A commutation did no such thing. Biden himself drew the line sharply, describing the commuted inmates in condemning terms while explaining that his position against federal capital punishment applied regardless of how heinous the crime.
"I condemn these murderers, grieve for the victims of their despicable acts, and ache for all the families who have suffered unimaginable and irreparable loss. But guided by my conscience … I am more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level." — President Biden, December 23, 2024, on commuting 37 death row sentences[9]
Clemency scorecard
| Action | Mechanism | Offense type | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marijuana pardons (2022–23) | Pardon | Simple possession — non-violent | Conviction forgiven; 6,500+ affected |
| COVID home-confinement (Dec 12, 2024) | Commutation | Non-violent — drug, fraud | Sentence ended; ~1,500 affected |
| Individual pardons (Dec 12, 2024) | Pardon | Non-violent — explicitly stated | Conviction forgiven; 39 people |
| Death row commutations (Dec 23, 2024) | Commutation | Murder, violent crimes | Death → life without parole; 37 people |
| Crack-cocaine sentences (Jan 17, 2025) | Commutation | Non-violent drug offenses | Sentence reduced; ~2,490 affected |
| Preemptive pardons (Jan 19–20, 2025) | Pardon | No charges filed; preemptive | Protection against future prosecution |
The pattern is consistent: every action labeled a "pardon" covered non-violent offenses. The one clemency action that benefited violent offenders was explicitly a commutation, and it reduced punishment from death to life in prison, not from prison to freedom.
The strongest version of the concern
The claim, at its strongest, is this: Biden used executive power to shield 37 murderers and other violent federal convicts from the punishment a court and jury imposed. Regardless of the legal label attached to the action, the practical effect was that people convicted of the most serious federal crimes will not face the penalty the legal system assigned them. Victims' families did not consent to this outcome, and the president acted unilaterally in the final weeks of his term. That concern is real and does not depend on whether the action was called a pardon or a commutation.
Scored against the adversarial standard: this steelman addresses a genuine policy disagreement about executive clemency and capital punishment. It does not, however, rescue the factual claim. The claim under review is that the "mass pardons" included violent offenders — a statement about which actions Biden took and what legal mechanism he used. On those facts the claim is wrong. The policy debate about whether presidents should commute death sentences is a separate question, and a legitimate one, but it does not make "mass pardons" an accurate description of what occurred.
Counter-arguments that score below the threshold for flipping the verdict:
"The distinction between pardon and commutation is just legal semantics." This scores 2/5. The distinction is not semantic; it determines whether a conviction stands, whether civil rights are restored, and whether future courts treat the person as convicted. A pardoned murderer has no conviction; a commuted one does. That matters for the legal record, for victims' rights proceedings, and for public understanding of what happened.
"Biden's family pardons were wide and sweeping." This scores 2/5. The pardon Biden issued to Hunter Biden, and the pardons to family members in January 2025, covered non-violent federal offenses. They were controversial for different reasons (nepotism, breadth) but did not cover violent crimes.
What to watch
Watch for
- Trump administration attempts to reimpose death sentences. Trump and allies have publicly suggested reversing Biden's death row commutations, but no president has ever done this. Constitutional law scholars broadly agree that a commutation, once granted, cannot be revoked by a successor. Any legal effort to re-sentence the 37 inmates would face severe constitutional challenge under the Double Jeopardy Clause and the Pardon Clause of Article II. Watch for whether DOJ files any legal action on this question.
- Reinstatement of federal executions. The Biden administration imposed a moratorium on federal executions. Trump signed an executive order directing the Attorney General to pursue the death penalty, including against those convicted of killing law enforcement officers. Watch whether executions resume for existing death row inmates (the three excluded from Biden's commutations plus any future convictions).
- Congressional response to preemptive pardons. Legislators from both parties have raised questions about the constitutional scope of preemptive pardons — pardons issued before charges are filed. No court has definitively ruled on their validity. Any challenge to the Fauci or Milley pardons would go to federal courts, potentially reaching the Supreme Court.
Sources
- Biden granted more acts of clemency than any prior president
- Biden pardons thousands convicted of marijuana possession, orders review of federal pot laws
- Fact Sheet: President Biden Announces Clemency for Nearly 1,500 Americans
- Biden preemptively pardons Anthony Fauci, Mark Milley and Jan. 6 committee members
- Fact Sheet: President Biden Commutes the Sentences of 37 Individuals on Death Row
- Biden commutes dozens of death row sentences to life without parole
- Biden commutes sentences for nearly 2,500 non-violent drug offenders
- Biden commutes sentences for nearly 1,500, pardons 39 convicted of non-violent crimes
- Biden commutes sentences of 37 of 40 federal death row inmates, gives life in prison
