Pubdate: Sat, 19 Dec 2015
Source: Boston Globe (MA)
Copyright: 2015 Associated Press
Contact: http://services.bostonglobe.com/news/opeds/letter.aspx?id=6340
Website: http://bostonglobe.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/52
Author: Eric Tucker, Associated Press

OBAMA COMMUTES SENTENCES OF 95, PARDONS 2 IN YEAR-END SPREE

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama on Friday commuted the 
sentences of 95 prisoners and pardoned two more, part of a broader 
effort to rethink a criminal justice system that critics say has 
resulted in overly harsh and expensive sentences for thousands of 
drug offenders.

The commutations, the most Obama has issued at one time, mostly 
benefit nonviolent drug offenders - many of whom are serving long 
sentences for cocaine and crack crimes.

Obama is also pardoning an Ohio man sentenced to probation in a 
counterfeiting case and a Virginia woman sentenced to home detention 
and supervised release in a bank fraud case.

"The president's decision today to commute the prison terms of 95 
individuals is another sign of this administration's strong 
commitment to ensuring fairness in the criminal justice system," 
Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates said in a statement.

The announcement comes amid a bipartisan push to ease steep 
punishment for nonviolent offenders.

As part of that effort, the Justice Department in April 2014 
announced new criteria designed to encourage additional prisoners to 
apply for clemency. Though advocates praised that move, the number of 
prisoners granted clemency since then has been fewer than what they had hoped.

Julie Stewart, the president of Families Against Mandatory Minimums, 
said in a statement after Friday's announcement that the "work is not done."
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