Lawmakers Urge Biden to Pardon Leonard Peltier Amid Health Decline

An Ongoing Quest for Clemency: Leonard Peltier’s Fight for Freedom

Leonard Peltier, an 80-year-old Native American rights activist, remains incarcerated despite a renewed push for his release. Recent efforts by U.S. lawmakers seek to persuade President Joe Biden to grant clemency to Peltier, who has spent decades behind bars for a crime that many believe was unjustly prosecuted.

A letter signed by nearly 36 Democratic members of Congress, including Congressman Raúl Grijalva, was sent to President Biden urging clemency for Peltier. Convicted in 1977 for the murder of FBI agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams during a 1975 incident on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Reservation, Peltier has maintained his innocence throughout his incarceration.

Peltier’s case has attracted support from global figures like Pope Francis, Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, and the Dalai Lama, all advocating for his release. However, former FBI Director Christopher Wray labeled him “a remorseless killer.”

James Reynolds, a former U.S. Attorney involved in the original case, questioned the validity of Peltier’s conviction. In a 2021 letter, he described it as “a testament to a time and a system that no longer has a place in our society,” suggesting that the conviction might not hold in today’s courts.

Rep. Grijalva, a consistent advocate for Peltier, initiated his support with letters in 2021. He maintains his campaign for Peltier’s release, even calling him in 2022 after Peltier contracted COVID-19 while imprisoned in Florida.

Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii, co-author of the recent clemency appeal, stated on the Senate floor, “Even if you believe that he did in fact commit the crime, the time is now to let him spend whatever remaining days he has at home to die with his family. He’s done his time, he’s of poor age and poor health. … This is what mercy is for.”

Peltier, who has lost his eyesight and was hospitalized in October, had requests for compassionate release and parole denied earlier this year. In their letter to Biden, 34 lawmakers emphasized, “These recent denials mean only you have the unique ability to grant him clemency and rectify this grave injustice that has long troubled human rights advocates and Native Peoples.”

Despite President Biden’s recent record-setting clemency actions, which included granting 39 pardons and commuting 1,500 sentences, Peltier’s name was absent from the list. Biden’s decisions included pardoning his son, Hunter, earlier in the month.