Del. Don Scott (D-Portsmouth), the first Black person to serve as speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, was convicted in 1994 of a non-violent federal drug-related offense.

President Joe Biden pardons five people and commutes the sentence of two others who "made significant contributions to improving their communities."

President Joe Biden pardoned five people on Sunday, including the late civil rights leader Marcus Garvey, and commuted the sentences of two.

Civil rights leaders and lawmakers have long said that Mr. Garvey’s 1923 conviction for mail fraud was unjust, arguing that he was targeted for his work.

President Joe Biden on Sunday posthumously pardoned Black nationalist Marcus Garvey, who influenced Malcolm X and other civil rights leaders and was convicted of mail fraud in the 1920s.

President Joe Biden granted a posthumous pardon to the late Black nationalist Marcus Garvey as well as four other justice advocates who had been convicted of non-violent drug offenses.

It's not clear whether Biden, who leaves office Monday, will pardon people who have been criticized or threatened by President-elect Donald Trump.

President Biden used his clemency power today, his last full day of presidency, to pardon 5 individuals, and commute the sentences of 2 others. One of those pardons went to Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates Don Scott.

On his last full day in the White House President Joe Biden pardoned Virginia House Speaker Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, who served nearly eight years in prison on a drug-related offense.