Dozens Of Democrats Ask Biden To Free Leonard Peltier | EUROtoday

WASHINGTON ― Dozens of U.S. senators and members of Congress wrote to President Joe Biden on Thursday “with renewed urgency” of their calls on him to launch Native American rights activist Leonard Peltier, who has been in jail for practically 50 years and is unwell.

“The power to exercise mercy in this case lies solely within your discretion, and we urge you to grant Mr. Peltier clemency, allowing him to return home and live out his remaining days among his own people,” reads the letter, signed by 34 Democratic lawmakers.

“We commend the steps that your Administration has taken to right past wrongs of our federal government’s treatment of Native Americans, and the steps you have taken to uphold the American values of liberty and justice, including rectifying inequities in our nation’s criminal justice system,” they wrote. “In keeping with these principles, we strongly urge you to commute Mr. Peltier’s sentence.”

The letter is signed by seven senators, 26 House members and, curiously, one former longtime Democratic senator who served with Biden for many years, Patrick Leahy of Vermont.

A White House spokesperson didn’t reply to a request for remark as as to if Biden is contemplating commuting Peltier’s sentence.

Here’s a duplicate of the letter:

Democrats delivered their letter to Biden on the identical day he commuted the sentences of 1,500 individuals who had been launched from jail however positioned on dwelling confinement in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. He additionally pardoned 39 folks convicted of nonviolent crimes.

Between that and Biden’s latest pardon of his son Hunter, Democrats are hopeful it’s an indication that the president will present mercy in Peltier’s case in his ultimate weeks in workplace.

“President Biden has long recognized that our criminal justice system is not without its flaws,” Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), one of many signatories on the letter, informed HuffPost in an announcement.

“His action to grant clemency to 1,500 Americans ― the most ever in a single day ― is a promising sign that he’s ready to undo the wrongs of the past and give so many the second chance they deserve,” mentioned Grijalva, who has lengthy advocated for Peltier’s freedom. “Mr. Peltier should never have been imprisoned, much less for nearly half a century, so I hope President Biden will continue to do the right thing and pardon Leonard Peltier now.”

Peltier has been in jail ever because the U.S. authorities accused him of murdering two FBI brokers in a 1975 shoot-out on a South Dakota reservation. There was by no means proof that Peltier dedicated a criminal offense, and the U.S. authorities by no means did determine who shot these brokers, however federal officers wanted somebody to take the autumn, and Peltier was their choose.

His trial was riddled with misconduct: The FBI threatened and coerced witnesses into mendacity. Federal prosecutors hid proof that exonerated Peltier. A juror admitted on the second day of the trial that she had “prejudice against Indians,” however she was stored on anyway.

The U.S. authorities’s case fell aside after these revelations, so it simply revised its expenses towards Peltier to aiding and abetting whoever did kill the brokers ― based mostly completely on the premise that he was one in every of dozens of individuals current when the shoot-out occurred.

Peltier, who is almost 80 now, has maintained his innocence, which has virtually actually led to him being denied parole. He’s principally blind and makes use of a walker to get round when he’s not confined to the inches of area in his cell. He’s going through severe well being points associated to an aortic aneurysm and diabetes, which despatched him to the hospital in July with “open wounds and tissue death on his toes and feet.” He was hospitalized once more in October.

Virtually each worldwide human rights chief in fashionable historical past, together with Pope Francis and Nelson Mandela, has known as for Peltier’s launch. Remarkably, so have a number of the similar individuals who put Peltier in jail within the first place.

The solely cause the Native American rights activist remains to be in jail is due to unwavering opposition to his launch from the FBI, though its arguments towards clemency are filled with holes, are outdated and are remarkably simple to disprove.

The bureau nonetheless hasn’t publicly addressed the important thing context of that 1975 shoot-out, both: The FBI itself was deliberately fueling tensions on that reservation as a part of a covert marketing campaign to suppress the actions of the American Indian Movement (AIM), a grassroots motion for Indigenous rights. Peltier was an energetic AIM member and an FBI goal.

Biden, who arguably has nothing left to lose at this level, may unilaterally grant compassionate launch to Peltier. If he needed to keep away from some controversy, he may merely commute Peltier’s sentence versus granting a pardon. Doing so would simply imply his jail time is over versus suggesting the federal government is acknowledging it did one thing improper.

Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), chair of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, is without doubt one of the signatories on Thursday’s letter. He individually appealed to Biden final week to “show mercy” and commute Peltier’s sentence.

“If there was ever a case that merited compassionate release, Leonard Peltier’s is it,” Schatz mentioned in remarks on the Senate flooring. “This is exactly what that awesome presidential power is for: to right a historic wrong — and if not that, then just to show mercy and let an old man die with his family.”