Nearly 40 non-violent criminals had theirs written off.

The decision to grant mass clemency follows a backlash over the pardon the outgoing president gave to his son Hunter for gun and tax offences.

Here's our North America correspondent, David Willis.

Not since Jimmy Carter, on his first full day in office, granted a blanket pardon to those found guilty of evading the Vietnam War draft have so many people been granted clemency on the same day.

The 39 people pardoned by President Biden were all found guilty of individual offences, all non-violent and, in many cases, marijuana-related.

And a White House statement quoted President Biden as saying that America was built, as he put it, on the promise of second chances, adding that all those who had been granted clemency had been successfully rehabilitated and had proven that they were deserving of a second chance.

All of this comes, of course, just over a week after President Biden issued an unconditional pardon to his son, Hunter, who'd been found guilty of tax evasion and gun charges, a move that sparked condemnation from even several in his own party, as well, of course, as the Republicans.

Now, the White House has said that it is, in its words, continuing to review claims for clemency, the suggestion being that more pardons could be issued in the five or so weeks that Joe Biden has left in the White House.

The man who will be taking over from him, President-elect Donald Trump, has said that he intends to pardon many of those who were involved in the insurrection at the US Capitol building on 6 January 2021.

Within hours of taking office, Mr Trump has taken to calling them the J6 hostages and has said that he believes that many of them do not deserve to be in jail.