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No, those are arguments for changing the legislation. They are not arguments for a presidential pardon. A presidential pardon is -in practice- something you get for good behaviour, not because the president does not like the penalty scale or there's a purported majority in favor of it. And - being the judicial deus ex machina nuclear bomb that it is - a serious office holder would only excercise that power in exceptional circumstances, not because he wants to trend on twitter prior to the midterm elections.
Finally, since the pardon is only for people sentenced to home confinement, prison overpopulation or rehablitation does not even factor into it. So don't bring it up again itt.
For god's sake, a presidential pardon isn't even a legislative change. People can still be jailed for possession. You think maybe you'd want to start there, instead of invalidating the entire judicial system up to and including October 6? Or rather, the judicial system on a federal level - the pardon doesn't even apply to convictions under state law, which is how I assume the majority of Americans are tried for marijuana felonies. Like, do you people understand just what a stupid, ass-backwards nothingburger this is?
https://www.justice.gov/pardon/frequently-asked-questions#:~:text=A pardon is an expression,It does not signify innocence.
https://www.justice.gov/pardon/presidential-proclamation-marijuana-possession
https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/artII-S2-C1-3-1/ALDE_00013316/
No, they are arguments for pardoning existing convictions.
The majority of the population feels it shouldn't have been a crime in the first place, that the convictions were an injustice, and that individuals having those convictions on their criminal record is perpetuating that injustice.
Being incarcerated and having a permanent record for marijuana possession is part of the failure to rehabilitate through their justice system, and thus pardoning the convictions (sadly the convictions aren't expunged) will, although marginally, address that. Biden specifically addressed this with his statement about how it has been, “needless barriers to employment, housing, and educational opportunities”.
The pardon is the first step in the political process of attempting to get federal and state laws to reflect the changes in public opinion and the failure of the war on drugs. Reducing the prison population would certainly be more a product of ongoing reform of state laws, but again Biden has explicitly stated that this is adding federal support for extending that reform, “Just as no one should be in a federal prison solely due to the possession of marijuana, no one should be in a local jail or state prison for that reason, either”.
You might not agree with his arguments, but they are arguments nonetheless.