Obama Cuts Prison Sentences for 42 Drug Offenders
Source: ASSOCIATED PRESS
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSJUNE 3, 2016, 4:28 P.M. E.D.T.
WASHINGTON President Barack Obama shortened the sentences Friday of 42 people serving time for drug-related offenses, continuing a push for clemency that has ramped up in the final year of his administration.
Roughly half of the 42 receiving commutations Friday were serving life sentences. Most are nonviolent offenders, although a few were also charged with firearms violations. The White House said many of them would have already finished their sentences if they had been sentenced under current, less onerous sentencing guidelines.
The latest group of commutations brings to 348 the total number of inmates whose sentences Obama has commuted more than the past six presidents combined, the White House said. The pace of commutations and the rarer use of pardons are expected to increase as the end of Obama's presidency nears.
"He remains committed to using his clemency power throughout the remainder of the administration to give more deserving individuals that same second chance," White House counsel Neil Eggleston wrote in a blog post.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/06/03/us/politics/ap-us-obama-commutations.html?_r=0
hobbit709
(41,694 posts)kadaholo
(304 posts)Dont call me Shirley
(10,998 posts)Doctor_J
(36,392 posts)Any day now
Silver_Witch
(1,820 posts)So glad you won!!!
thucythucy
(8,086 posts)that he issues a blanket pardon to tens of thousands of nonviolent drug offenders. The system as is is so egregiously unjust, and this is one area where a President has an extraordinary ability to make things right for so many people.
EL34x4
(2,003 posts)These people have been institutionalized. Don't just toss them back out on the streets. They need job placement, housing, etc. They need to be made whole again.
But, yes, a great justice is taking place with what President Obama is doing here.
thucythucy
(8,086 posts)I agree with everything you said.
mahannah
(893 posts)mountain grammy
(26,644 posts)Really, thank you. 348 so far, more than the last six presidents combined. I know it's a drop in the bucket, but he is a busy man, and can you imagine the outrage if he makes a mistake? Progress is painfully slow sometimes.
Ed Suspicious
(8,879 posts)secondwind
(16,903 posts)life in prison without parole, for mailing a small amount of LSD to a friend..
Both of his parents have died while he is in jail, their house is waiting for him, all he wants to do is come home. He's earned a degree in Philosophy while in prison... they call him "the gentle giant".. he is harmless.
Arazi
(6,829 posts)Its the right thing to do
Pastiche423
(15,406 posts)tabasco
(22,974 posts)He has been a big disappointment as far as criminal justice reform.
ManiacJoe
(10,136 posts)Federal law provides that the DEA can do it.
The DEA falls under the executive branch.
Obama could make this happen if he so desired.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Removal_of_cannabis_from_Schedule_I_of_the_Controlled_Substances_Act