Obama to commute prisoners
Compiled from news services
WASHINGTON — Justice Department officials have completed their review of more than 16,000 clemency petitions filed by federal prisoners over the past two years and sent their last recommendations to President Barack Obama, who is set to grant hundreds more commutations to nonviolent drug offenders during his final days in office.
U.S. Pardon Attorney Robert Zauzmer has not taken a day off since Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates brought him on in February 2016 to sift through the backlog of thousands of petitions. From her home in Atlanta, Ms. Yates said she reviewed hundreds of petitions during the holidays.
As President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office, Justice officials worry that his administration will dismantle Mr. Obama’s clemency initiative, which has resulted in the early release of 1,176 drug offenders who were sentenced under the severe mandatory minimum laws passed in the 1980s and 1990s during the nation’s “war on drugs.” More than 400 were serving life sentences.
Captives moved to Oman
The Arabian Sea nation of Oman said Monday it has taken in 10 Guantanamo captives for the Obama administration, which is in a final push to thin the detention center population by Inauguration Day. The move downsized the detainee population to 45.
A brief announcement from the Omani News Agency in Muscat said Sultan Qaboos Bin Said agreed to take in the men “in consideration to their humanitarian situation.” It described their status there as in “temporary residence.”
Before this transfer, 19 of the 55 captives at the prison were cleared to go to nations offering security assurances that satisfied Secretary of Defense Ash Carter. More transfers are expected.
Monday’s transfer makes Oman the largest Guantanamo resettlement nation.
8 shot after MLK parade
MIAMI — Gunfire erupted Monday afternoon in a Northwest Miami-Dade park, marring the end of the annual Martin Luther King Jr. parade and celebrations in Liberty City.
Eight people — three adults and five 17 and under — were shot and several more were injured during the stampede to get out of Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park. The shooting took place around 4 p.m., about two hours after the parade finished. Families had gathered in the park for a post-parade celebration.
The park was evacuated as detectives investigated. Two people have been detained for questioning, police said. Two weapons were also recovered.
Whales found dead
MIAMI — More than 80 false killer whales have been found dead after stranding themselves along the remote coast of Southwest Florida in Everglades National Park, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported Monday.
So far, the death toll is 81, with just one of the rare whales found alive. Crews continue to search for another dozen or so from a pod originally thought to number about 100. It is the largest recorded stranding of such whales in Florida.
NOAA’s mammal stranding network first received a report of the beached whales near Hog Key on Saturday. False killer whales are a type of dolphin and closely resemble killer whales without the white patches. Males can grow up to 20 feet.