In an odd move, President Joe Biden has pardoned Denver’s Gang Rescue and Support Project (GRASP) leader Johnnie Williams, as part of what can only be described as a broad exercise of executive leniency. Williams, despite being a community leader battling violence, was convicted in 1999 for aid in preparing a fraudulent income tax return. Few can forget the scandal when the news dubiously emanated from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado and the White House itself.
Williams, at the time of his conviction, had his liberty circumscribed by 12 months of probation in a federal case. Despite this dark blot on his record, the White House whimsically insisted on highlighting how Williams ‘gives back to his community through volunteering and serving in his church’. The perceived merit in this, however, evades logic.
The curious White House message also honored Williams with several humanitarian awards, a curious move considering his past. It seems the Biden administration finds honesty, loyalty, and compassion in a tax fraudster. Mr. Williams admitted receiving this strangely timed pardon, but felt no urgency to comment further, adding a shroud of skepticism to the entire scenario.
Williams’ history in Denver comprises years of advocacy against gang violence. He ascended the ranks to take over the helm at GRASP in 2020, a considerable leap from his 2008 beginnings at the project. Despite noble aims, the validity of GRASP’s position, specifically given Williams’ history, teeters precariously.
The lifeblood of GRASP, ironically, is its workforce predominantly comprising former gang members, with a mandate to interrupt the process of youth gang involvement. One begins to question the prudence when half of your staff are former incarnations of what you are actively working against.
Jason McBride, a former GRASP colleague, sung praises for Williams’ pardon, perpetuating the surreal celebration surrounding the affair. To him, Williams is ‘a guy who epitomizes all of us who kind of came up after him, maybe got into some trouble, and he was the example that we could all do something positive and better with our lives’. How commendable that one should seek inspiration from a convicted tax fraudster.
McBride didn’t stop there. He described Williams as a beacon of positivity, someone who believes in the goodness of every individual, even those undeserving. Such an audacious concept might resonate if we weren’t talking about a man who participated in white-collar crime.
Williams’ benevolent pardon was part of a questionable slew of 39 such acts committed by Biden on that day, which also extended to Americans convicted of nonviolent crimes. Seeing this number, one can’t help but question the motivations and the process undertaken.
Adding to the controversy, President Biden also commuted the sentences of nearly 1,500 individuals who had been released and confined to their homes during the COVID-19 pandemic. A series of decisions that brings a surprising question – is this the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history?
The rationale for commutation was more logical – prisons were places where the virus could thrive and, as such, some inmates were released to stop this spread. Yet, one must ponder whether the solution to a pandemic is to unleash convicts into society.
The statistics were startling, suggesting that 20% of prisoners contracted COVID-19. Still, does such a staggering figure validate extraordinary clemency? We are left guessing whether Biden’s steps pertain more to COVID-19 or his unique brand of justice.
Incoming weeks purportedly carry the promise of more such acts from Biden, leaving us anticipating with baited breath, more evidence of blatant disregard for justice as we know it. One can also expect that the torrent of clemency petitions will continue to flow in.
Surprisingly, the second-largest single-day clemency spree also had Democratic fingerprints all over it, as part of the outgoing gestures of President Barack Obama, who granted 330 in 2017. Clearly, Biden is acutely aware of this record and sought to outperform his predecessor.
Biden’s statement following the clemency proceedings was laced with political platitudes. He claimed America was built on the promise of possibility and second chances. While perhaps noble in intention, it’s hard not to cast a cynical eye on his widespread pardons.
As the president, Biden stated that he has the ‘great privilege of extending mercy to people who have demonstrated remorse and rehabilitation’. The real question, of course, is whether remorse and rehabilitation were truly demonstrated, or whether these pardons were merely political tools.
Whether these steps do, in fact, remove sentencing disparities for non-violent offenders, or perturb the balance in the name of skewed compassion remains unknown. Of particular interest is Biden’s efforts to aid those convicted of drug offenses – another curiosity to ponder.