Support WBUR
Boston's Morning Newsletter
Rep. Ayanna Pressley is calling on Biden for more sweeping pardon action
Editor's Note: This is an excerpt from WBUR's daily morning newsletter, WBUR Today. If you like what you read and want it in your inbox, sign up here.
This season’s first wintery storm arrives tonight, with shovel-worthy snow expected in certain areas outside of the I-495 loop (depending on which snow map you trust). But first, let’s get to the news:
I beg your pardon: Rep. Ayanna Pressley had been hoping to see President Biden use his pardon power during his final weeks in office — but she had a different way in mind. In the wake of Biden’s unconditional pardon of his son Hunter this week, the Massachusetts congresswoman is pushing the president for even more sweeping action to grant clemency to those she feels are being unreasonably punished by the criminal justice system. “President Biden should be using his pardon authority — keeping those hundreds of thousands of people in mind who pose no threat to society, whose lives are deteriorating due to this mass incarceration crisis and an unjust criminal legal system,” Pressley said yesterday during an interview on Radio Boston.
- Zoom in: Pressley first made her call for mass pardons in a letter last month with over 60 fellow House Democrats. Specifically, they called for Biden to pardon federal inmates who are “elderly and chronically ill, those on death row, people with unjustified sentencing disparities, and women who were punished for defending themselves against their abusers.”
- Zoom out: Biden’s controversial pardon of his son has sparked a bigger conversation about what pardons could — or should — be next. It’s not uncommon for presidents to announce a flurry of pardons at the end of their term, and the White House says Biden is “thinking through that process very thoroughly.”
- Around the delegation: Pressley didn’t have much to say about Biden’s pardon for Hunter. However, some of her peers — including Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Rep. Seth Moulton and Rep. Jake Auchincloss — haven’t held back their criticisms, as Boston.com reports. “Wrong is wrong,” Warren said.
- Meanwhile: Sen. Ed Markey has suggested Biden should issue “preemptive pardons” for people who could potentially be targeted for retribution by President-elect Donald Trump. Amherst College political scientist Austin Sarat writes in this Cognoscenti commentary it would be an unusual, but legal, move.
Meanwhile at City Hall: The feds have launched an investigation into Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson. But so far, we don’t really know what it’s about. The exact focus of the probe has not been publicly disclosed and no criminal charges have been filed. The Boston Globe first reported the existence of the probe yesterday, as well as the fact that subpoenas have been sent to City Hall.
- The backdrop: Rumors about an investigation into the Roxbury councilor had been widespread in Boston political circles, as WBUR’s Sydney Ko and Walter Wuthmann report. Last month, state officials dinged her reelection campaign for late financial reports and excessive contributions. Fernandes Anderson was also fined $5,000 last year for hiring her sister and son as paid staffers.
Eyes on 2025: Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller announced yesterday she won’t run for reelection next year. Fuller became the city’s first woman elected mayor in 2017. But after two terms spanning the COVID pandemic and a contentious teachers’ strike, Fuller said she’s hoping to spend more time with her family (and grandchildren).
- The race for her seat is already on, with Newton City Councilor Marc Laredo announcing a mayoral campaign in September.
Look up: Cambridge has officially unveiled its first bilingual street signs. The signs — which show street names in both English and the native language of the Massachusett Tribe — were installed last week in East Cambridge as part of the first phase of a voter-selected project in the city’s participatory budget. See photos here and here.
Flame on: Go ahead and (carefully) have that campfire. The Department of Conservation and Recreation lifted a temporary ban yesterday on open flame and charcoal fires at state parks due to improving drought conditions. However, most of the state does remain in a drought, so officials ask that you use water to make sure fires are completely extinguished.
P.S.— With the possibility of snow in the forecast, we have hot chocolate on the mind. And we want to know: where’s the best spot in Massachusetts for a warm cup of hot cocoa? Fill out this form or reply to this email to tell us your pick! Also, if you subscribe to another WBUR newsletter using this link before Dec. 31, you’ll get an exclusive list of WBUR staffers’ favorite hot chocolate spots. (It’s not just L.A. Burdick.)
