Biden commutes 1,500 jail sentences, grants pardons for 39 others: 'Largest single-day grant of clemency'

President Biden has commuted jail sentences for nearly 1,500 people and granted 39 pardons, marking the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history, the White House announced Thursday morning.

Sentences were commuted for inmates placed on home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic and who "have successfully reintegrated into their families and communities," according to the announcement. The 39 individuals pardoned were convicted of non-violent crimes, the White House said.

"The President has issued more sentence commutations at this point in his presidency than any of his recent predecessors at the same point in their first terms," White House officials said in a statement.