Jeffrey Bellin: The road to end mass incarceration could begin with mercy for some Jan. 6 rioters. - NBCNewsTHINK
Now that the federal prison population has ballooned, presidential action on a similar scale would mean the release of more than 13,000 people.
One of the challenges of reducing prison populations will always be that many people in the U.S. want to see lots of people locked up. We just differ about which people., federal prisoners are almost exclusively convicted of nonviolent offenses. Almost half are serving time for drug offenses, with 5% more in prison for immigration crimes.
Fourth, the Jan. 6 prosecutions give Biden a unique opportunity to show leadership, by offering mercy to folks whom he would most likely like to see locked up. After all, Biden was the nominee whose lawful election the rioters tried to overturn. The federal officials working tirelessly on the Jan. 6 prosecutions would strongly resist any leniency, and with good reason. Their understandable frustration with any possible intervention by the president would be shared by many people in the U.S.
Finally, by commuting the sentences of some of the nonviolent Jan. 6 rioters, Biden would push his primary critic, Donald Trump, into a corner. Trumpof the Jan. 6 defendants if he is re-elected. By commuting sentences for at least some of those who did not interfere with police, Biden would force Trump to either endorse his action or narrow his talking point to pushing for pardons for rioters who assaulted police.
Releasing thousands of federal prisoners is the kind of bold action that could jump-start an era of mass decarceration. It is not just the raw numbers: over 10,000 human beings freed from confinement. Biden could signal the need to return to the way we used to think about mercy — as applying even to those who deserve punishment — not just in terms of pardons but throughout all of criminal justice.
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