Washington, DC – Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries released the following statement:

Throughout his life, President Joe Biden has fought to improve the plight of hardworking Americans struggling to live paycheck to paycheck. Many of these people have been aggressively prosecuted and harshly sentenced for nonviolent offenses, often without the benefit of adequate legal representation. Countless lives, families and communities have been adversely impacted, particularly in parts of Appalachia, Urban America and the Heartland.

During his final weeks in office, President Biden should exercise the high level of compassion he has consistently demonstrated throughout his life, including toward his son, and pardon on a case-by-case basis the working-class Americans in the federal prison system whose lives have been ruined by unjustly aggressive prosecutions for nonviolent offenses. This moment calls for liberty and justice for all.

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