President Obama cuts short
the sentences of 98 federal inmates.
WASHINGTON — Ninety-eight federal inmates will return home sooner than expected after President Barack Obama commuted their sentences Thursday, part of a clemency push that has sped up dramatically in Obama’s final months.
All told, Obama has cut short sentences for 872 inmates, including 688 this year. The figure is higher than the number commuted by the previous 11 presidents combined, and the White House said more commutations were coming before Obama leaves office in January. Of the latest batch, 42 had been serving life sentences, the White House said.
Neil Eggleston, Obama’s White House counsel, said it was important to remember that “there are personal stories behind these numbers.”
“These are individuals — many of whom made mistakes at a young age — who have diligently worked to rehabilitate themselves while incarcerated,” Eggleston wrote in a blog post. Almost all the prisoners had been convicted of nonviolent drug crimes — mostly involving cocaine or methamphetamine. Some were also serving time for firearms violations in connection to drug trafficking, possession or sales. Almost all are men who come from every corner of the country.
Though Obama granted fewer commutations earlier in his presidency, he’s frequently been granting clemency to large groups of individuals this year. Only a few weeks ago, he commuted 102 sentences of mostly nonviolent drug offenders.
Obama’s order doesn’t set all the prisoners free right away. Many of those receiving commutations won’t see their sentences end until early next year or even as late as October 2018, long into the next president’s term.
Obama’s bid to lessen the burden on nonviolent offenders reflects his longstated view that decades of onerous sentencing requirements put tens of thousands behind bars for far too long.
Obama has used the aggressive pace of his commutations to increase pressure on Congress to pass a broader fix while using his executive powers to address individual cases where possible.
Though both parties in Congress have called for a criminal justice overhaul, momentum has mostly petered out, creating dim prospects for a legislative breakthrough during Obama’s final months.
The inability of Republicans and Democrats in Congress to find consensus even on an issue they agree needs fixing reflects the charged political climate of the election year.