He credited his tenure as president for shortening his commute, which has allowed him to spend more time with his family and, in particular, his daughters, than he could as an IL state senator and USA senator. Nearly all are men, though they represent a diverse cross-section of America geographically.
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Of the 214 prisoners on the list, the majority were facing harsh penalties for drug charges; nearly all sentences were for nonviolent crimes.
Part of the problem is that Obama has received a lot more petitions than his predecessors but has not devoted enough resources to processing them, despite his apparently honest interest in ameliorating draconian sentences. The sentence eventually was reduced to 240 months behind bars on October 6, 2015. “What does that even mean?”
– Morris Dabbs of Trenton, sentenced initially to 360 months imprisonment and 10 years supervised release on February 29, 2000 for conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine.
Of the 214 commutations Obama granted Wednesday, 67 of the prisoners were facing life sentences and the vast majority imprisoned for nonviolent drug crimes. “I don’t think anybody would take that seriously”. Obama, who shortened just one sentence in his first term and just 20 in the first two years of his second term combined, is clearly trying to make up for lost time, and he deserves credit for that.
“The individual nature of the clemency process underscores both its incredible power to change a person’s life, but also its inherent shortcoming as a tool for broader sentencing reform”, wrote Neil Eggleston, Obama’s top lawyer, in a blog post on the White House website Wednesday.
Eggleston said Obama examines each clemency application on its specific merits to identify the appropriate relief, including whether the prisoner would be helped by additional drug treatment, educational programming or counseling.
The administration is pressing Congress for bipartisan legislation that would overhaul the USA criminal justice system by reducing mandatory sentences for nonviolent felons.
Three New Jersey men convicted of drug-related crimes will be released from prison on December 1 after President Barack Obama on Wednesday commuted their sentences. With Obama’s support, the Justice Department in recent years has directed prosecutors to rein in the use of harsh mandatory minimums.
Some Republicans have said Clinton should be denied access to such briefings because of her handling of classified material on a private email server while she was secretary of state.
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Since Obama’s comments Tuesday declaring Trump “unfit” for the job, Republicans have begun expressing fresh worry about their candidate’s ability to run a winning campaign. “Not less, but at long last, not more”. “But what really happened is that a group of fellow citizens finally got the punishment they deserved”.
