In one of his last actions as president, President Joe Biden commuted Leonard Peltier’s life sentence on Monday. Peltier was a well-known federal prisoner and Native American rights activist who was found guilty of killing two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and breaking out of federal prison.
Peltier “is currently 80 years old, has been incarcerated for nearly half a century, and has serious health issues.” The White House noted in a statement that while this commutation will allow Mr. Peltier to serve out his remaining days in home confinement, it will not absolve him of his underlying crimes.
After nearly 50 years in prison, Peliter’s health has deteriorated recently due to diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke-related partial blindness, and episodes of COVID-19.
In July, the U.S. Parole Commission rejected Peltier’s most recent release request, leaving Biden to decide his future. Peltier has consistently insisted on his innocence, and law enforcement officials are expected to strongly oppose his commutation, arguing that his two consecutive life sentences were only related to the 1975 shooting deaths of FBI agents Ron Williams and Jack Coler.
Minutes before President-elect Donald Trump was scheduled to begin his second term in office, Biden took the decision to commutate. Other presidents, both Republicans and Democrats, have also refused to step in, and Trump did not grant Peltier’s request for mercy during his first term.
The lawyer who pushed for Peltier’s release commended the departing president in a statement.
Attorney Kevin Sharp stated, “President Biden made a huge step toward healing and reconciliation with the Native American people in this country. “The injustice of Leonard Peltier’s conviction and ongoing incarceration was not acknowledged for almost 50 years, but because to the President’s gesture of mercy, Leonard can now return to his tribe and spend his last years there.
In 2022, Peltiert told NBC News that he had no interest in receiving a presidential pardon because it would be for a crime he maintains he did not commit. He stated that he would rather have the chance to be released from prison and have a new trial.
“I would love to go home,” Peltier stated over the phone from Florida’s Federal Correctional Complex Coleman. “My relatives wish to look after me. My tribe is interested in looking after me.
Peltier’s release has been supported over the years by Nobel Peace Prize winners like Nelson Mandela and Bishop Desmond Tutu, as well as human rights and religious luminaries like Pope Francis and the Dalai Lama.