Pubdate: Tue, 14 Jul 2015
Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA)
Copyright: 2015 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.utsandiego.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/386
Note: Seldom prints LTEs from outside it's circulation area.

PRESIDENT COMMUTES 46 SENTENCES

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama on Monday commuted the sentences 
of 46 drug offenders in federal prisons, more than double the number 
of commutations he granted earlier this year as part of his 
administration's effort to reform the criminal justice system.

In a Facebook video posted Monday afternoon, the president said the 
people who received the commutations had served sentences 
disproportionate to their crimes.

"These men and women were not hardened criminals, but the 
overwhelming majority had been sentenced to at least 20 years," he 
said. "I believe that at its heart, America is a nation of second 
chances. And I believe these folks deserve their second chance." He 
noted that in his letters to them, he made sure they knew they needed 
to make different choices now that their sentences had been commuted.

Monday's 46 commutations mark the most in a single day since at least 
the administration of President Lyndon Johnson. Obama has now 
commuted the sentences of 89 people, surpassing the combined number 
of commutations granted by presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. 
Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

The Washington Post
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