Schatz Urges President Biden To Pardon Native American Activist Leonard Peltier In Final Weeks Of Term

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), Chair of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, today again called on President Biden to pardon Native American activist Leonard Peltier who was convicted of murder in 1977 following a controversial investigation and trial, which many civil rights leaders and legal experts have called unjust, including the U.S. Attorney who prosecuted the case. Since 2022, Schatz has repeatedly led colleagues in calling on the president to grant Peltier, who is now 80 and has been imprisoned for the past 49 years, clemency.

“As President Biden considers candidates for clemency in the final weeks of his term, the Native American activist Leonard Peltier is among those who deserve that grace and mercy,” said Senator Schatz.

Senator Schatz continued, “Peltier is now 80 years old and has been in prison for almost 50 years. He’s in declining health, experiencing vision loss and other illnesses. If there was ever a case that merited compassionate release, Leonard Peltier’s is it. This is exactly what that awesome presidential power is for. To right a historic wrong. And if not that, then to show mercy and let an old man die with his family.”

The full text of Senator Schatz’s remarks is available below. Video is available here.

As President Biden considers candidates for clemency in the final weeks of his term, the Native American activist Leonard Peltier is among those who deserve that grace and mercy. Peltier was arrested in 1975 for his alleged involvement in the murder of 2 FBI agents in a shootout on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. But the process that led to his conviction had major issues and inaccuracies from the start.

For example, one witness whose statements were used at trial said she was told to lie and say that she was in a relationship with Peltier and that she had witnessed him shoot the agents. She later recanted that statement, saying “I was forced into this, and I feel very awful. I just wish that Leonard Peltier will get out of prison.” In another instance, according to reporting, a juror who, on day 2 of the trial, professed her prejudice against Native Americans was allowed to remain on the panel.

If that isn’t enough, take it from the very U.S. Attorney who tried Peltier’s case, James Reynolds, who said Peltier has served his sentence on “the basis of minimal evidence, a result that I strongly doubt would be upheld in any court today.” In the same letter, Reynolds urged President Biden to commute Peltier’s sentence, writing, “I write today from a position rare for a former prosecutor. To beseech you to commute the sentence of a man who I helped put behind bars. With time, and the benefit of hindsight, I have realized that the prosecution and continued incarceration of Mr. Peltier was and is unjust. We were not able to prove that Mr. Peltier personally committed any offense on the Pine Ridge Reservation.”

Peltier is now 80 years old and has been in prison for almost 50 years. He’s in declining health, experiencing vision loss and other illnesses. And in spite of all of that, earlier this year, federal officials denied his requests for compassionate release and parole.

Even if you believe that he did in fact commit the crime, surely now is the time to let him spend whatever remaining days he has at home and die with his family. He’s done his time. He’s of old age and in poor health. And he poses little threat to society. If there was ever a case that merited compassionate release, Leonard Peltier’s is it. This is exactly what that awesome 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.

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