President Joe Biden has used this power to pardon his son, Hunter, following the younger Biden's conviction on federal gun and tax charges. On Thursday, the president used his power to issue 39 pardons and commute 1,500 sentences. So what is clemency?

President Biden on Thursday announced he is commuting sentences for roughly 1,500 people who were released from prison and placed on home confinement during the pandemic; he is also pardoning 39 Americans convicted of nonviolent crimes in what the White House called the “largest single-day act of clemency in modern history.

It’s the biggest single-day act of clemency in modern history. The commutations were for people already released on home confinement, while those pardoned had been convicted of nonviolent crimes.