Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), chair of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, on Wednesday urged President Joe Biden to commute Leonard Peltier’s prison sentence and let the Native American rights activist finally go home.
“I commend your administration’s commitment to righting past wrongs in our criminal justice system. In continuing that work as you consider recommendations for individuals to receive clemency, I write to urge you to grant a commutation of Leonard Peltier’s sentence,” Schatz wrote to Biden in a new letter obtained by HuffPost.
“Mr. Peltier meets appropriate criteria for commutation: (1) his old age and critical illness, (2) the amount of time he has already served, and (3) the unavailability of other remedies,” the Democratic senator said. “Mr. Peltier should be granted a commutation of his sentence.”
Here’s a copy of Schatz’s letter:
