US President Joe Biden has allowed the first 3 forgiveness in his term. It would provide mercy to a Secret Service agent of the Kennedy era. The agent was found guilty of fraud for trying to sell a copy of a secret file. The 2 other people were involved in drug-related crimes. But they became key elements in their communities.
President Biden also modified the sentences of 75 other people involved in the harmless and drug-related approaches. On Tuesday, the White House announced a series of job training and reentry programs launching for prisoners or recently released. Most of those prisoners served their sentences in home detention during widespread Covid-19 after receiving charges.
The President said America is a nation of laws and 2nd chances, recovery, and repossession. The elected officials on both sides of the avenue are ideology leaders, civil rights supporters, and law enforcement agencies. They are confident that the US criminal justice system must reflect these essential values to bring safer and more powerful communities.
Former Secret Service agent Abraham Bolden
Moreover, President Biden pardons Abraham Bolden Sr., Betty Jo Bogans, and Dexter Jackson. The 86-year-old Abraham Bolden Sr. was the first Black Secret Service agent. He served President John F. Kennedy’s detail in 1964 and faced federal corruption charges.
Bolden was allegedly involved in selling a copy of a Secret Service document. However, his first trial finished with a well-hung jury. The key witnesses accepted lying at the request of the prosecutor during his conviction in a 2nd trial.
Meanwhile, Bolden refused a retrial and spent many years in federal prison. He has sustained his morality and wrote a book. He said that he was focused on speaking out against anti-Semitic and nonprofessional attitudes in the Secret Service.
Betty Jo Bogans, and Dexter Jackson
The 51-year-old Betty Jo Bogans was sentenced for keeping and distributing crack cocaine in 1998 in Texas. She attempted to deliver drugs to her boyfriend and his partner. Bogans is a single mother with no previous criminal record but was sentenced to a 7-year in prison. She maintained consistent employment while experiencing cancer treatment.
The 52-year-old Dexter Jackson resident of Athens, Georgia, was sentenced in 2002. He was alleged for using his pool hall to accelerate the smuggling of marijuana. Jackson was found guilty and admitted that he authorized marijuana dealers to use his business.
Biden to reform US Criminal Justice System
Jackson transformed his business into a cellphone repair service after his release from prison. He started employing local high school students and initiated a program to provide work experience to young adults.
He has constructed and redesigned homes in his community due to a significant shortage of affordable housing. Moreover, the criminal justice and civil rights groups have pressed the White House to shorten sentences.
The Washington administration was stressed to take measures to decrease differences in the US criminal justice system. The grant of compassion from President Biden came as the administration has experienced scrutiny from Congress.
The Crime Bill 1994 and Black People
The US Congress scrutinized the Biden administration over misdemeanors and treating inmates in the besieged federal Bureau of Prisons. It is accountable for prisoners’ serving sentences of home imprisonment.
However, President Biden helped herdsmen through the crime bill in 1994. Most criminal justice experts believe the bill participated to critical sentences and massive confinement of Black people. Keep in mind that President Biden promised in his 2020 campaign to drop the number of people confined in the country.
Biden also said nonviolent drug criminals should be forwarded to drug courts for processing. He also stressed much better law enforcement training. The President also called for the changes in the US criminal justice system to resolve disparity-related issues.