Biden’s Pardon for His Son Dishonors the Office

Jeffrey Toobin: “Fortunately, Mr. Biden has time to redeem, or at least improve, his legacy on pardons. To state the obvious, the younger Mr. Biden is not the only person who got a raw deal from prosecutors. For better or worse, the lame duck period of modern presidencies has served as pardon season, and the president now has the chance to take some bold steps for people who don’t have friends, or a father, in high places. Mr. Biden could lower the prison sentences in cases involving crack, given the huge sentencing disparity between those and cases involving powdered cocaine. He could commute to life in prison the sentences of those on federal death row. He could end the pointless incarceration of elderly and disabled prisoners.”

“So far, though, he’s done none of that. For now, Mr. Biden’s sympathies extend only to his son.”