He becomes the third Rock Island man this month to have their sentences commuted by President Obama. The last 11 administrations issued a combined 690 commutations, so Obama can lap Truman, too, with 17 more.
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The majority were nonviolent offenders sentenced for drug crimes. Because it just doesn’t make sense to require a nonviolent drug offender to serve 20 years, or in some cases, life, in prison.
Eddie James Davis of Bedford, Ohio, convicted of possession with intent to distribute cocaine He was originally sentenced for 240 months imprisonment with 10 years supervised release in November of 2006.
Neil Eggleston, the White House counsel, said on the site that Williams and the other inmates were “individuals who received unduly harsh sentences under outdated laws for committing largely nonviolent drug crimes”.
US President Barack Obama “is certainly not going to pull any punches” on human rights during his upcoming meeting with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said.
After granting commutation to 214 federal inmates, Obama granted 111 additional commutations to inmates on Tuesday. He says Congress needs to draft criminal justice reform legislation to reduce prison overcrowding.
The early release is part of Obama’s effort to correct what he views as unreasonably long mandatory minimum sentences.
Leon Perry of Metter will have his 240 month prison sentence commuted to August 30, 2018, and a $2,500 fine will be remitted, conditioned upon enrollment in a residential drug treatment. Such legislation has stalled and is unlikely to be approved this year. For most, Obama commuted their sentences to end on December 28.
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Legal groups supporting the president’s actions have formed an organization called Clemency Project 2014 that has submitted some 1,600 clemency petitions to the Justice Department’s Office of the Pardon Attorney.
