Tennessee’s GOP governor is pardoning 43 more people. He stresses it’s not like what Biden did

Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee says he is pardoning 43 people who have served out their sentences in what he says is “very different” than President Joe Biden’s recent wave of commutations. Lee’s latest clemency moves are nearly double his next highest total for a single year. But Lee on Friday specifically noted that he chose not to shorten any sentences, known as commutations. He said the people receiving pardons have finished their sentences. Last week, Biden commuted sentences of roughly 1,500 people who were released from prison and placed on home confinement during the coronavirus pandemic. Biden also pardoned 39 Americans convicted of nonviolent crimes.