President Barack Obama announced Thursday he was granting clemency to 58 drug offenders. The White House said the action bring’s Obama’s total to 306 commutations, more than the last six presidents combined.
“As a country, we have to make sure that those who take responsibility for their mistakes are able to transition back to their communities,” Obama wrote in a blog post on Medium. “It’s the right thing to do. It’s the smart thing to do. And it’s something I will keep working to do as long as I hold this office.”
Most of the recipients were nonviolent drug dealers. Obama has prioritized reducing the prison population and reforming sentencing for drug criminals.
“Over the past year and a half, I have personally reviewed hundreds of commutation applications,” Families Against Mandatory Minimums General Counsel Mary Price said in a statement. “I am pleased by today’s news but I know that for every prisoner whose sentence the president commuted today, there are a hundred more who are equally worthy of his support. I think the president knows that too. I remain hopeful that he will grant clemency to all those who deserve a second chance.”
In his blog post, Obama pushed for Congress to enact sentencing reform.
“While I will continue to review clemency applications, only Congress can bring about the lasting changes we need to federal sentencing,” he wrote. “That is why I am encouraged by the bipartisan efforts in Congress to reform federal sentencing laws, particularly on overly harsh mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenses. Because it just doesn’t make sense to require a nonviolent drug offender to serve 20 years, or in some cases, life, in prison. An excessive punishment like that doesn’t fit the crime. It’s not serving taxpayers, and it’s not making us safer.”
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