Biden’s Final Act: Leonard Peltier Freed After 50 Years
On January 20, 2025, President Joe Biden commuted the life sentence of Leonard Peltier, the longest-serving political prisoner in the US, allowing him to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest. Peltier, an American Indian Movement leader, had been imprisoned for nearly 50 years for the 1975 deaths of two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge reservation, a conviction he has always denied. A new documentary, 'Free Leonard Peltier,' premiering on Netflix on October 12, chronicles his decades-long fight for justice and the broader context of Indigenous activism. While the commutation was a significant victory, it did not result in a full pardon, and Peltier continues to advocate for total freedom and the protection of tribal treaties.