WASHINGTON, DC – Multiple members of Congress submitted a letter to President Biden this past week, urging Biden to grant clemency to Leonard Peltier, a Native American rights activist.
The letter advocates for 80-year-old Peltier to be released to spend his remaining days with his community after spending 50 years in prison, reported HuffPost.
On the same day President Biden commuted 1,500 individual sentences and granted pardons for 39 individuals who committed nonviolent crimes, 33 Democrat members of Congress and one retired Senator sent the letter to the President urging clemency for Peltier.
The letter, said HuffPost, details how “serious concerns have been raised regarding the fairness of his trial and incarceration.”
The letter also includes the many organizations in support of Peltier’s release including the American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch. Many respected individuals have also shown support such as Pope Francis and Mother Teresa.
Moreover, James Reynolds, the attorney whose office oversaw Peltier’s case, claimed that Peltier has fulfilled his sentence and if the evidence that convicted him were to be retried in court, he “strongly doubts it would be upheld in any court today.”
Democratic legislators acknowledged the Biden Administration’s efforts to acknowledge the historical injustices against Native Americans in the United States in upholding the “American values of liberty and justice, including rectifying inequities in our nation’s criminal justice system. In keeping with these principles, we strongly urge you to commute Mr. Peltier’s sentence.”
Senator Brian Shatz (D-Hawaii) took to the Senate floor, stating, “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.”
The Bureau of Prisons had denied Peltier a “compassionate release or reduction in sentence in April of this year; and in July 2024, the U.S Parole Commission denied him parole,” reported the HuffPost.
The Democratic legislators explain that these denials call for President Biden to reverse this injustice that is also prevalent among other native American Human Rights Activists, said HuffPost.
HuffPost noted Peltier was accused of murdering two FBI agents in 1975 in a shoot-out on a South Dakota reservation, adding there was no evidence Peltier committed the crime he was convicted of and he has maintained his innocence since his conviction.
The government never identified who was responsible for the murders nor the multiple instances of misconduct during his trial, including a juror’s prejudice against “Indians.”
Additionally, HuffPost stated Peltier maintaining his innocence “has almost certainly led to him being denied parole.”
The FBI is opposed to Peltier’s release, arguing against clemency, reported HuffPost, stating the FBI has not released any information regarding the 1975 shoot-out and is believed to have been attempting to suppress the American Indian Movement, of which Peltier was an active member, making him targeted by the FBI.
Peltier is currently facing many serious health issues contributing to his call for clemency so he can live the rest of his life comfortably out of prison, wrote the HuffPost, adding Peltier is mostly blind and suffers from health issues in connection with an aortic aneurysm and diabetes, and was hospitalized twice this year.
The HuffPost said the White House has yet to comment on whether President Biden will be granting Peltier clemency.
