By Samantha Waldenberg, Alejandra Jaramillo and Marshall Cohen

(CNN) — President Joe Biden is granting clemency for nearly 2,500 non-violent drug offenders in his final days in office, placing a focus on sentencing disparities for crack cocaine-related crimes.

“Today, I am commuting the sentences of nearly 2,500 people convicted of non-violent drug offenses who are serving disproportionately long sentences compared to the sentences they would receive today under current law, policy, and practice,” Biden said in a statement Friday. “Today’s clemency action provides relief for individuals who received lengthy sentences based on discredited distinctions between crack and powder cocaine, as well as outdated sentencing enhancements for drug crimes.”

The clemency decision will benefit federal prisoners convicted of crack cocaine-related crimes, who have been serving disproportionately long sentences compared to those convicted of powder cocaine offenses, reflecting changes in the law aimed at reducing racial disparities.

In 2021, the Biden administration became a vocal advocate for reforming the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, a law signed by President Ronald Reagan. The strict drug policy led to the incarceration of thousands of people of color, specifically Black people, for decades or for life for crack-related offenses, according to the Justice Department.

The law imposed an automatic five-year sentence for possessing 5 grams of crack cocaine, while 500 grams of powder cocaine carried the same penalty.

Since the November election, criminal justice reform groups have been anxiously waiting for the type of mass clemency for drug offenses in Biden’s latest announcement.

However, Biden’s first major post-election clemency action was personal and not part of any policy agenda: the controversial and unconditional pardon for his son Hunter Biden, who was convicted last year of 12 tax and gun crimes.

Later in December, Biden commuted the sentences of 1,500 people who had already been on house arrest due to the Covid-19 pandemic. But that didn’t release anyone from prison and didn’t address the drug sentencing disparities that have been a top priority for criminal justice groups.

Some liberal-leaning activists had grown worried that their clemency priorities, especially related to racial justice, might go unaddressed before Trump takes office for his second term. But Biden delivered on some of those concerns with Friday’s announcement and his other recent decision to commute nearly all federal death row sentences to life in prison.

Many of those civil rights and social justice organizations celebrated the commutations.

“These final clemency actions will forever define President Biden’s legacy on justice,” Zoë Towns, executive director of criminal justice reform group FWD.us, said in a statement Friday. “President Biden’s final acts of leadership in delivering relief, justice, and mercy to thousands and, importantly, calling attention to the harms of extreme sentencing,” the statement continued.

Shaneva McReynolds, president of Families Against Mandatory Minimums, said in a statement that her group “has long advocated” for Biden to address these sentencing disparities, and that “we are thrilled for the people and families who received relief today.”

This story has been updated with additional reporting.

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