In one of the most sweeping clemency actions in U.S. history, hundreds of people convicted of federal nonviolent drug offenses in North Carolina will return home this year. Days before leaving office in January, former president Joe Biden commuted the sentences of 2,490 such individuals nationwide.

The commutations aimed to correct what the administration called “outdated” sentences, particularly those related to crack cocaine — a category where enforcement and sentencing have historically had a disproportionate impact on Black Americans.

Commutation is one of the executive clemency powers granted to the president under the U.S. Constitution. It stops just short of a full pardon, allowing a president to shorten a person’s prison sentence without fully forgiving the crime.

In announcing

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