President Obama is determined to finish what he started before leaving office in January. On Monday granted clemency to 231 federal inmates, the most in a single day by any president in U.S. history.
Many non-violent offenders will be going home sooner than expected thanks to President Obama. On Monday he commuted the prison sentences of 153 people and pardoned 78 others, just weeks before he is to leave the White House. Monday’s clemencies bring Obama’s total to 1,324 people (1,176 sentences commuted, 148 pardoned), 395 of which were serving a life sentence. This is a huge number considering Obama began this initiative in 2014.
“Today’s acts of clemency — and the mercy he has shown his 1,324 clemency recipients — exemplify his belief that America is a nation of second chances,” White House counsel Neil Eggleston wrote in a blog post.
President Obama has been trying to right the wrong brought down by “The War On Drugs” by freeing nonviolent drug offenders and shortening the prison times of those serving lengthy sentences. President Obama has long spoken against long sentences for nonviolent drug offenders, saying they’ve had a disproportionate affect on communities of color. So far he has granted clemency more times than any U.S. president. Criminal-justice reform advocates fear that President-Elect Donald Trump, a “law-and-order” candidate, will not continue Obama’s efforts, so expect our current POTUS to get done as much as he can in these last weeks.
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