Biden Issues Six Pardons For Years-Old Crimes, Advocates Ask 'What About Non-Voilent Pot Prisoners?'

President Biden granted a full pardon to six people who had already completed their sentences, including drug-related crimes and second-degree murder.

Among the pardoned was a 72-year-old Florida man, John Dix Nock III, who served time for having unknowingly rented a place he owned to someone who was growing cannabis in 1996.  

Two others on the list included an 80-year-old woman who'd been convicted of killing her abusive husband about a half-century ago and a man who pleaded guilty to using a telephone for a cocaine transaction in the 1970s.  

The pardons were announced Friday while the president was spending time with his family on St. Croix, in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Biden had granted three pardons prior to this since he took office, in addition to the much-publicized October pardon of federal convictions for simple marijuana possession.

“President Biden believes America is a nation of second chances, and that offering meaningful opportunities for redemption and rehabilitation empowers those who have been incarcerated to become productive, law-abiding members of society,” a White House official said Friday.

What About Cannabis?

Following the October pardons, the Biden administration has essentially ignored pleas from cannabis advocates and families of pot prisoners who want to see the nation's non-violent cannabis offenders set free. Criminal reform and cannabis advocate Weldon Angelos, who was imprisoned and sentenced to 55 years for a non-violent weed-related offense, called on Biden to get serious about cannabis pardons and expungements.

Photo by Pawel Czerwinski on Unsplash