Dozens Of Democrats Plead With Biden To Free Leonard Peltier Before Leaving Office

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

“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 decades, Patrick Leahy of Vermont.

A White House spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment as to whether Biden is considering commuting Peltier’s sentence.

Here’s a copy of the letter:

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The bureau still hasn’t publicly addressed the key context of that 1975 shoot-out, either: The FBI itself was intentionally fueling tensions on that reservation as part of a covert campaign to suppress the activities of the American Indian Movement (AIM), a grassroots movement for Indigenous rights. Peltier was an active AIM member and an FBI target.

Biden, who arguably has nothing left to lose at this point, could unilaterally grant compassionate release to Peltier. If he wanted to avoid some controversy, he could simply commute Peltier’s sentence versus granting a pardon. Doing so would just mean his prison time is over versus suggesting the government is acknowledging it did something wrong.

Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), chair of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, is one of the signatories on Thursday’s letter. He separately appealed to Biden last 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 said in remarks on the Senate floor. “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.”