Biden Pardon Record: President Commutes 1,500 Sentences—Most Ever in a Day

U.S. President Joe Biden has commuted the sentences of around 1,500 people who were released from prison to home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic, marking the largest single-day clemency action in the country's modern history.

Biden also pardoned 39 people convicted of nonviolent crimes in an effort to promote second chances and address the problems with the nation's criminal justice system.

The commutations, announced on Thursday, affect those who have served at least one year under home confinement after being released from prison to reduce the spread of the virus.

U.S. prisons became hotspots for COVID-19, with one in five prisoners testing positive at the height of the crisis.