President Joe Biden granted clemency for the first time since taking power at 78, consisting of three pardons and 75 commutations, including a Chula Vista man charged with conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance.
Ruben Lopez Cazares was among the 75 commutations convicted of non-violent drug offenses that would have received a lower sentence if charged with the same offenses today due to the bipartisan First Step Act.
Cazares was sentenced to federal court in the District of Nebraska on June 7, 2007, to 300 months and a five-year term of supervised release. His sentence was amended on Jan. 12, 2016, to 262 months of imprisonment and a five-year term of supervised release.
With Biden's commutation, that sentence will expire on April 26, 2023, with the remainder served in home confinement and leave intact the five-year term of supervised release.
The American Civil Liberties Union lauded Biden’s action during “Second Chance Month”.
“The ACLU applauds President Biden's grant of 75 commutations and three pardons, many of whom fit the categories called for by the ACLU in the Redemption Campaign, a nationwide effort to liberate 50,000 people from federal and state prisons,'' Cynthia Roseberry, deputy director of the ACLU's Justice Division said in a statement.
“America incarcerates more than 20 percent of the world's prison population despite comprising only 5 percent of the global population, with Black people 10 times more likely to be incarcerated for drug offenses than anyone else,'' she continued. "At a cost of $80 billion annually, the carceral system is a behemoth albatross for justice and equality. The grant of clemency plus the initiatives announced as wrap-around services are essential to returning people to their communities and to their families.''
Following the passage of the First Step Act, a bipartisan resolution from Congress, then-President Donald Trump was the first US president to observe Second Chance Month in 2018. According to a proclamation from Trump, the United States would emphasize the need "to provide opportunities for people with criminal records to earn an honest second chance," during the month of April.
