Earlier this month, President Obama signed off on 214 federal sentence commutations in a single day in an effort to reform the prison and criminal justice system.
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Another 111 federal inmates saw their prison sentences reduced by the Obama administration on Tuesday, including almost three dozen people with life sentences. Obama has now granted clemency to 673 inmates during his administration, which, according to the White House, is more than the past 10 American presidents combined.
“They are individuals who received unduly harsh sentences under outdated laws for committing largely nonviolent drug crimes, for example, the 35 individuals whose life sentences were commuted today”, the White House said.
The president has argued many non-violent drug offenders serving time in federal and state prisons deserve a second chance.
While these changes may seem recent, Obama initially put the progam into action two years ago when he asked a specific group of inmates to fill out applications to get their sentences commuted.
Among those granted shorter sentences Tuesday were people convicted of drug offenses for trafficking cocaine, heroin, marijuana and methamphetamine.
At the same time, President Obama knows that clemency alone can not fix decades of overly punitive sentencing policies, or make our criminal justice system more fair and more just on the whole. He was convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance, and use of a communication facility, according to information provided by the White House in a news release. He was sentenced to almost 22 years in prison in 2002 for possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine. Thirty-five individuals also had their life sentences commuted. The sentence now will expire on August 30, 2018, conditioned upon enrollment in residential drug treatment. His sentence was cut to 15 years.
The release dates for the inmates vary. Both will be released December 28.
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By Associated Press reporter Kevin Freking.
