At long last, some justice for Leonard Peltier

      

    By Reginald Johnson

    It's wonderful news that indigenous rights activist Leonard Peltier is finally going home. It took far too long, but at least it's finally happening.

President Biden's decision to commute Peltier's life sentence stemming from a bogus murder conviction case caps a 50-year campaign by Peltier, his family, friends and supporters to win clemency. Presidents Clinton and Obama had previously rejected his bid.

“It’s finally over — I’m going home. I want to show the world I’m a good person with a good heart. I want to help the people, just like my grandmother taught me,” Peltier said, according to a report on Democracy Now.

Peltier will be leaving prison on Feb. 18. Friends are trying to get that date moved up, as Peltier, 80, has pressing health problems and needs to see a doctor. Hopefully, authorities will recognize those concerns and release him early.

A banner calling for Leonard Peltier's release at a New York demonstration in 2015. The Native-American activist has been locked for the past 50 years following his conviction in a much-criticized murder case. (Photo Wikimedia Commons).

Peltier was charged with the killing of two FBI agents in a shootout on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in 1975. The incident occurred during a period of intense activism by Native-Americans and others to improve conditions for indigenous people. Many legal experts have raised doubts about the validity of the case.

It would have been nice if Biden had granted Peltier a full pardon --- as he did for many of his family members just minutes before he left office --- but I'll take the commutation. At least Peltier will get out of prison, and be at home with family. He will be in home confinement serving his term.