The holidays is the traditional time for presidents to use their pardon power to suspend prisoner sentences and expunge criminal records, and Barack Obama recently exercised this power, commuting the sentences of eight drug offenders.
But advocacy groups in favor of lighter sentences for non-violent offenders were disappointed that the president commuted the same number of sentences as one year ago. All of those receiving commuted sentences were serving lengthy terms - half of them life sentences - for drug offenses related to crack cocaine and methamphetamine
The groups were puzzled with just eight pardons since the U.S. Justice Department unveiled a new prison reform initiative last April aimed at making it easier for the administration to pardon or reduce sentences of non-violent offenders.
According to Deputy Attorney General James Cole, the goal of the initiative is to “quickly and effectively identify” inmates serving mandatory minimum sentences that have since been characterized as “out-of-date” and inappropriate.
One critic of Obama’s action was clemency advocate group The Clemency Report, which said the president had “continued the sad practice of being stingy with clemency.” The group expressed disappointment that no marijuana, powder cocaine or LSD offenders had their sentences shortened, even though 2,000 federal inmates qualify for commutation consideration under the new Justice Department initiative.
In addition to the sentence commutations, Obama also issued pardons to 12 other federal convicts on offenses ranging from theft of bank funds to running an illegal distillery.
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