Obama nearly doubles his commutations in one month

President shortens sentences of 111 inmates Tuesday, working through backlog of 11,477 orders

President Obama commuted the sentences of 111 more federal inmates Tuesday, capping a month in which he’s nearly doubled the number of commutations granted during his presidency.

The breakneck pace of presidential clemency comes as the Obama White House tries to get through a backlog of 11,477 cases that were pending as of Aug. 11. In addition to the 325 commutations granted this month, Obama also denied 2,227 cases on Aug. 8.

The commutations — a shortening of a criminal sentence using the president’s constitutional pardon power — are part of the Obama administration’s two- year old clemency initiative.

As Congress has shortened the sentences for drug crimes, it also has failed to make many of those reduced sentences retroactive — a disparity Obama is trying to correct through unilateral action.

About a third of Obama’s 673 commutations to date have been for people serving life sentences.

“They are individuals who received unduly harsh sentences under outdated laws for committing largely non- violent drug crimes, for example, the 35 individuals whose life sentences were commuted today,” White House Counsel Neil Eggleston said Tuesday.

Obama defended his use of commutations this month, saying a bipartisan consensus is emerging around reforming unduly harsh drug sentences. But with those efforts stalled on Capitol Hill, he said he needed to act.

“As successful as we’ve been in reducing crime ... the extraordinary rate of incarceration of nonviolent offenders has created its own set of problems that are devastating,” he said.

“( These) individuals ... received unduly harsh sentences under outdated laws.” White House Counsel Neil Eggleston

AP Moves are part of Obama’s clemency initiative.