Pubdate: Tue, 14 Jul 2015
Source: Seattle Times (WA)
Copyright: 2015 The Seattle Times Company
Contact:  http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/409
Author: Julie Hirschfeld Davis

OBAMA GRANTS CLEMENCY FOR 46, PUSHES FOR CHANGES

WASHINGTON - President Obama announced Monday that he was commuting 
the sentences of 46 federal drug offenders, more than doubling the 
number of nonviolent criminals to whom he has granted clemency since 
taking office.

"These men and women were not hardened criminals, but the 
overwhelming majority had been sentenced to at least 20 years; 14 of 
them had been sentenced to life for nonviolent drug offenses, so 
their punishments didn't fit the crime," Obama said in a video 
released on the White House Facebook page, in which he is shown 
signing the commutation letters. "I believe that at its heart, 
America is a nation of second chances, and I believe these folks 
deserve their second chance."

Obama's action Monday brought the total number of commutations he has 
issued to 89, exceeding that of any president since Lyndon B. 
Johnson, who commuted 226 sentences during his tenure. It also meant 
that he has commuted more sentences than the last four presidents combined.

In a letter written to each of the inmates in which he personally 
notifies them that their sentences have been commuted, Obama says he 
has chosen them out of the thousands who apply for clemency because 
"you have demonstrated the potential to turn your life around."

"I believe in your ability to prove the doubters wrong, and change 
your life for the better," Obama wrote. "So good luck, and Godspeed."

The commutations are part of a second-term push by Obama to use 
clemency to correct what he sees as the excesses of the past, when 
politicians eager to be tough on crime threw away the key even for 
minor criminals. As a result, African-American and Hispanic men were 
disproportionately affected.

Obama had already commuted the sentences of 43 prisoners, as part of 
an initiative begun last year by James M. Cole, the deputy attorney 
general at the time. Cole set criteria for who might qualify: 
generally nonviolent inmates who have served more than 10 years in 
prison; who have behaved well while incarcerated; and who would not 
have received as lengthy a sentence under today's revised sentencing rules.

Obama plans to spend much of the week talking about a criminal 
justice overhaul that would include changes to sentencing guidelines, 
lessening penalties for drug offenders. The president plans to 
introduce his proposals Tuesday in Philadelphia before the NAACP's 
annual convention.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom