Joe Biden didn't just walk out of the White House and leave the keys under the mat. In those final, frantic weeks of late 2024 and early 2025, he went on a bit of a spree with the "mercy" button. Most people only remember the big one—the son. But the actual list of people Biden pardoned covers a weirdly wide range of humanity, from civil rights icons who died decades ago to some guy in Ohio who messed with the mail in the nineties.
Honestly, the pardon power is the most "king-like" thing a president can do. No Congress to check it. No courts to overrule it. Just a signature and a fancy seal, and suddenly, a criminal record evaporates. Biden used it to try and fix what he called "systemic failures," but let's be real: it was also about legacy. He wanted to leave a footprint on criminal justice reform that the next guy couldn't easily scrub away.
The big names and the "Family First" controversy
You can't talk about this list without starting with Hunter Biden. It was the "he said he wouldn't, then he did" moment that set the internet on fire in December 2024. Biden had spent months telling reporters he wouldn’t interfere. Then, boom. A full and unconditional pardon for everything from 2014 to 2024. It wasn't just for the tax and gun charges either; it was a "pocket" pardon for basically anything federal the DOJ might have dug up later.
Critics called it a slap in the face to the rule of law. Supporters said it was a father saving his son from "raw politics." Whatever you believe, it’s the anchor of his pardon record.
But look past the family drama. Biden also cleared the name of Marcus Garvey. If you haven't heard the name, Garvey was a massive figure in the 1920s Black Nationalist movement. He was convicted of mail fraud in a case that many historians now say was a total setup by J. Edgar Hoover. Biden pardoned him posthumously in January 2025, a move that civil rights groups had been begging for for literally decades.
A massive shift for the "Average Joes"
If we stop at Hunter and Garvey, we're missing 99% of the story. Biden’s real impact was in the sheer volume of "nobodies" he helped. We’re talking about thousands of people.
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The Marijuana Proclamations
This was a huge deal. Biden issued categorical pardons for federal "simple possession" of marijuana. He didn't name every single person on a list—he basically just said, "If you have this on your federal record, you're pardoned."
- The Scope: Over 6,500 people initially, but expanded later to include thousands more.
- The Goal: Clearing hurdles for housing and jobs.
- The Catch: It only applied to federal charges. If a state trooper caught you with a joint in 2015, this didn't help you. Biden had to beg governors to follow his lead.
Veterans and the LGBTQ+ community
In June 2024, Biden did something pretty historic. He issued a mass pardon for former service members who were court-martialed under Article 125 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Basically, if you were kicked out of the military between 1951 and 2013 just for being gay (specifically for "consensual sodomy"), you were suddenly cleared. This allowed a lot of veterans to finally access the benefits they'd been denied for half a century.
The "End of Term" surge: Who made the cut?
On December 12, 2024, and again right before the 2025 inauguration, the White House dropped lists of individual names. These weren't celebrities. They were people like Nina Simona Allen, who had a decades-old conviction for bank fraud, or Duran Arthur Brown, who was involved in a mortgage scheme years ago.
Why these people? Most of them had finished their sentences ages ago. They were living quiet lives—some were nurses, some were pastors—but they couldn't get a bank loan or a specific license because of a mistake they made in their twenties.
Biden also took a massive swing at the federal death penalty. On December 23, 2024, he commuted the sentences of 37 individuals on death row. He didn't let them out; he just changed their sentence to "life without parole." Names like Shannon Wayne Agofsky and Billie Jerome Allen moved from the execution list to the general prison population. It was a quiet way of effectively ending the federal death penalty without needing a law passed by a hostile Congress.
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Why the list of people Biden pardoned is actually complicated
There is this misconception that a pardon means you were innocent. Kinda, but not really. In the eyes of the law, a pardon is "mercy." You still did the thing, but the government chooses to forget it.
The list of people Biden pardoned includes:
- Don Scott: The first Black Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates. He served seven years on drug charges decades ago. His pardon in January 2025 was a massive "redemption" story.
- Ravi Ragbir: A high-profile immigrant rights activist.
- Kemba Smith Pradia: A woman who became the face of "unfair" mandatory minimum sentencing in the 90s.
- Non-violent drug offenders: Hundreds of people who were serving 20-year sentences for things that would probably get them a fine today.
What this means for you (Actionable Insights)
If you or someone you know is looking at this list because you’re hoping for your own "mercy" moment, here’s the reality of the post-Biden era.
Check your jurisdiction. Seriously, this is where everyone gets confused. If your conviction is from a state court (like "State of Texas vs. You"), a presidential pardon does nothing. You need the Governor. If it says "United States of America vs. You," then you’re in the federal game.
The "Certificate of Pardon" is a real document. If you were part of the marijuana mass pardon, you don't just "feel" pardoned. You can actually apply for a formal certificate through the Department of Justice website. This is the paper you show a landlord or an employer.
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Pardons don't erase records automatically. This is the kicker. A pardon is like a giant sticker over your record that says "FORGIVEN," but the record is still there. You often still have to go through an expungement process to get the file actually shredded.
The window is likely closed for a while. Presidents usually do this at the end of their terms. With the 2024/2025 cycle over, the DOJ's Office of the Pardon Attorney is likely pivoting to new priorities. If you're looking for clemency now, you're looking at a multi-year waiting game.
Biden's legacy here is a mix of high-road civil rights fixes and low-road political favors. It's messy. It's human. And for a few thousand people, it was the difference between a life of "convict" status and a fresh start.
To verify if a specific name is on the official rolls, the Department of Justice maintains an updated database of all executive grants of clemency. This is the only way to confirm a pardon with 100% legal certainty. You can look up the "Pardon Grants" section on the DOJ's official site to see the full, unedited list of names from the 2021-2025 term.