The single largest reason for incarcerations in the largest prison population on the planet is minor drug related "crimes", including possession. We live in a very different world than we did even 20 years ago. Continuing to put people into jails, when at worst they are in need of therapy and psychological help, is truly insane. The money spent to ruin lives instead of turning them around is mind numbing. Stop the madness now. And congratulations POTUS. Another round for the intelligent vs. the galactically stupid.
2
There may be individuals that deserve to have their sentences commuted, but overall, you have to take into account the damage that drug dealers do to people's lives which can result in overdoses and death. They are a blight upon society and should be removed. A criminal service that can result in a heroin addiction is a terrible act and should not be treated with leniency.
What was the racial breakdown on those 46 criminals?
Great first step to the right direction in the "War on Drugs". Free Ross Ulbricht!
Finally something good for the people. My father has been in prison for most of my life over conspiracy to make and sell drugs. He wasn't ever violent and there was no proof of him even doing the crime. I now have three beautiful children that haven't ever meet there grandfather BC his prison is so far away. Please remember that not everyone is bad. All people make mistakes that's the point. We can't learn the right way without figuring out the wrong way as well. If we all learn from what isn't working maybe we will find something that will work for our people. Oh and the little people are ur foundations that u stand on why don't u ensure that ur foundation keeps growing stronger so we all can grow stronger. Thank you for the reading. :)
3
The president’s decision to grant clemency to non-violent drug offenders is another piece of his legacy, where he will be credited for taking the first steps to end a drug war that has been as wasteful of the nation’s resources as it has been founded in ignorance.
America’s “leaders” and lawmakers have shown a remarkable capacity to not learn from the mistakes of their predecessors. Prohibition helped no one except organized crime, and the same has been true of the prohibition effort against marijuana and cocaine, neither of which has been proven to measure up to alcohol in terms of social harm or deaths, while also benefitting crime cartels from South America to the terrorist heartlands of Pakistan and Afghanistan, to the networks of illegal immigrants which distribute and sell on the streets of every state in America.
It’s about time that the massive waste of enforcement and incarceration efforts against these “recreational” drugs be ended and that they be treated with the same restrictions against illegal use as are enforced with the use of alcohol. Then, the failed war against drugs can be narrowly focused against the truly deadly and destructive variants, like meth and heroin, with less leniency, greater enforcement, penalties, and effectiveness.
America’s “leaders” and lawmakers have shown a remarkable capacity to not learn from the mistakes of their predecessors. Prohibition helped no one except organized crime, and the same has been true of the prohibition effort against marijuana and cocaine, neither of which has been proven to measure up to alcohol in terms of social harm or deaths, while also benefitting crime cartels from South America to the terrorist heartlands of Pakistan and Afghanistan, to the networks of illegal immigrants which distribute and sell on the streets of every state in America.
It’s about time that the massive waste of enforcement and incarceration efforts against these “recreational” drugs be ended and that they be treated with the same restrictions against illegal use as are enforced with the use of alcohol. Then, the failed war against drugs can be narrowly focused against the truly deadly and destructive variants, like meth and heroin, with less leniency, greater enforcement, penalties, and effectiveness.
2
Gee, whatever happened to not breaking the LAW? If the LAWS....we are a Nation of LAWS... are too stringent then they need to be changed. Drug offenders, illegal immigrants and whoever else President Obama deems worthy seem to be able to break the LAWS with impunity are to be let free....or, not prosecuted.
I believe those found with drugs that are used by them to support a habit need rehabilitation and not jail time. But, the LAWS need to be changed and not at the whim of this or any other President. And, what makes these criminals the President gave amnesty to more special than the hundreds of others who might be "non-violent" criminals?
I believe those found with drugs that are used by them to support a habit need rehabilitation and not jail time. But, the LAWS need to be changed and not at the whim of this or any other President. And, what makes these criminals the President gave amnesty to more special than the hundreds of others who might be "non-violent" criminals?
1
Nice gesture, but a gesture is all it is.
There are dozens of people doing life in prison for possession of marijuana, and hundreds of thousands of others who are doing lesser sentences. To pardon 46 people for drug "crimes" while leaving these multitudes locked up for possessing a clearly beneficial plant, is insane, cruel, counterproductive and unworthy of a "civilized" nation. I know: I did a mandatory 5-year Federal prison term in the '90's for possessing ten pounds of small cannabis plants, due to Bill Clinton's worsening of the drugwar.
Relegalize pot, let the drugwar victims go!
There are dozens of people doing life in prison for possession of marijuana, and hundreds of thousands of others who are doing lesser sentences. To pardon 46 people for drug "crimes" while leaving these multitudes locked up for possessing a clearly beneficial plant, is insane, cruel, counterproductive and unworthy of a "civilized" nation. I know: I did a mandatory 5-year Federal prison term in the '90's for possessing ten pounds of small cannabis plants, due to Bill Clinton's worsening of the drugwar.
Relegalize pot, let the drugwar victims go!
2
Pushers are not victims. They are predators.
2
I would like to see the pictures of them. Just what we need more drug dealers on the streets.
1
To balance this decision, Obama should commute sentences against wealthy people who got rich with the law on their side. Well, is there any?
From policing to prosecutions to prison, the US criminal justice system is horribly broken and a blight on society.
To really understand the problem and the solutions, read an essay by the Hon. Alex Kozinski, Nineth US Circuit Court of Appeals, titled “Criminal Justice 2.0” from the Georgetown Law Journal.
http://georgetownlawjournal.org/files/2015/06/Kozinski_Preface.pdf
To really understand the problem and the solutions, read an essay by the Hon. Alex Kozinski, Nineth US Circuit Court of Appeals, titled “Criminal Justice 2.0” from the Georgetown Law Journal.
http://georgetownlawjournal.org/files/2015/06/Kozinski_Preface.pdf
The US has the world’s highest per capita incarceration rate —more than five times that of any Western nation and higher than the worst police state.
The US also has the world’s largest prison population —with a quarter of totalitarian China’s population, the US has almost twice as many people in prison.
All told, the United States has less than 5% of the world’s population, yet it holds more than 25% of the world’s prisoners.
Total US criminal prosecutions annually amount to almost fifty percent of all prosecutions worldwide, and at more than 94%, the US has one of the world’s highest conviction rates.
Ironically, nowhere on Earth is a person more likely to go to prison, and stay there longer, than in the Land of the Free.
Either the US is a nation of inveterate criminals or there's something drastically wrong with our criminal justice system.
The US also has the world’s largest prison population —with a quarter of totalitarian China’s population, the US has almost twice as many people in prison.
All told, the United States has less than 5% of the world’s population, yet it holds more than 25% of the world’s prisoners.
Total US criminal prosecutions annually amount to almost fifty percent of all prosecutions worldwide, and at more than 94%, the US has one of the world’s highest conviction rates.
Ironically, nowhere on Earth is a person more likely to go to prison, and stay there longer, than in the Land of the Free.
Either the US is a nation of inveterate criminals or there's something drastically wrong with our criminal justice system.
2
So, these are not just pot smokers but hard drug dealers Obama is commuting. How can it be called a nonviolent crime when a hard drug dealer sells to users and the users then end up dead with a spike in their arm?
1
Finally one issue his is right on! Even Rick Perry was headed in that direction.He called it Smart On Crime instead of Hard On Crime.There is no reason someone with a non-violent record should sit in jail wasting the tax payer 75 grand a year.This should pass easily.
46? How about all non-violent drug offenders?
1
A big day for Obama... Transgenders in the Military... A nuclear armed Iraq that can unilaterally stop any inspection.... and convicted drug offenders out on the streets....
You are witnessing the high water mark of Liberalism in America. I'm almost happy it's happened as America can now see just how dangerous a liberal/progressive president can be.
You are witnessing the high water mark of Liberalism in America. I'm almost happy it's happened as America can now see just how dangerous a liberal/progressive president can be.
You are SOOOOOO dead on the money!!!
1
This was the right thing to do, and long overdue. Most of these sentences were wildly disproportionate to crimes. The average prisoner who will be released under this order is a prisoner who has not committed any criminal violent act and is either a drug user who never sold (and hence needs treatment, not prison), or someone who grew up in a dirt-poor environment, with few options out of dire poverty, aside from selling some weed, coke, and or ecstasy pills to college kids to get high on. Maybe even to kids that we all knew quite well. Maybe kids from nice, quiet, middle-class towns. Lots of them. College kids who, if these prisoners didn't exist, would've just spent their parents money to find another dealer for their Friday night party, or just got high on some other legal drug, say, like alcohol. A drug that would make them more violent, more dangerous while driving a car, and seriously impair their judgement, but wouldn't get them thrown in jail for consuming.
I'm not condoning drug dealing; especially of harder drugs like crack or heroin, that truly ruin peoples lives (although, let's remember that 30 years ago, few people realize what crack would do to people). However, I would be wildly naive to think that it wouldn't at least be a possibility that I would've wound up on the same path as some of these individuals, had I grown up in the environment they had.
I'm not condoning drug dealing; especially of harder drugs like crack or heroin, that truly ruin peoples lives (although, let's remember that 30 years ago, few people realize what crack would do to people). However, I would be wildly naive to think that it wouldn't at least be a possibility that I would've wound up on the same path as some of these individuals, had I grown up in the environment they had.
I would rather see those jailed for Pot violations be freed.
3
Pardoning drug dealers is a bad idea. At one point before the war on drugs, most criminals were drug addicts who supported their habit. Most emergency room visits were drug related, and drugs are still used by pimps to enslave young underage girls.
They make a great deal of money and pay no taxes.
They make a great deal of money and pay no taxes.
2
"...before the war on drugs, most criminals were drug addicts..."
You failed to suppy a link supporting your assertion because your assertion is factually inaccurate --you just made it up.
You failed to suppy a link supporting your assertion because your assertion is factually inaccurate --you just made it up.
But I guess anyone who bought drugs from these persons that may have died from an overdose do not count as victims of their crimes...
But releasing such criminals from prison is what is expected by a society that places more credence on "popular social media" values than to the less popular moral values....
But releasing such criminals from prison is what is expected by a society that places more credence on "popular social media" values than to the less popular moral values....
3
"Drugs don't kill people. People taking them kill people." Isn't that the rationale for making guns legal and easily accessible, and without any restrictions? If we're going to blame the seller, we've got to be consistent. Considering there are 20,000 suicides by gun per year in the US, it would put a lot of gun shop owners in trouble.
1
The US inprisons more of its citizen than any other nation.
I guess you don't believe in the agency of the individual --people have free will and make their own decisions.
I wonder about the job prospects of the released men and women? Anyone out there think they'll be able to get a job that pays a living wage?
1
Obama used, he is (1/2) black, so he feels he is doing the right thing.
Unfortunately, he's the wrong president for America. Just a couple years left, thank goodness. At least the GOP and Dems can agree that they both don't want Obama in office any more.
Unfortunately, he's the wrong president for America. Just a couple years left, thank goodness. At least the GOP and Dems can agree that they both don't want Obama in office any more.
5
While Obama is mugging for the camera and playing politics on this issue, we've haven't heard a peep from him about the Kate Steinle murder. I think the reason for his silence is clear...
3
Exactly
2
In a time where vindictiveness seems to be an obsession God bless the President's capacity for forgiveness and the belief that change is possible. Most of these people are being punished disproportionately, and have already served lengthy terms. Second chances should not be reserved for those with the pocketbook for a top tier defense attorney.Bravo Mr.President!
6
It offends me to the core as a Christian to see your words, deifying Barack Obama as if he is credible, honest or decent. Did you hear Obama's words about Jesus? The Bible? Christians?
Yet here you are ignorantly falling for a WH PR stunt hook, line and sinker. Worse, you have absolutely no concept of federal drug laws, specifically felonies.
Disturbing.
Yet here you are ignorantly falling for a WH PR stunt hook, line and sinker. Worse, you have absolutely no concept of federal drug laws, specifically felonies.
Disturbing.
2
I absolutely do not think justice should be based on income In either direction for the haves or the have nots. It shouldn't even be his consideration and neither should race only the case facts.
1
Please remember that as a Christian we should only look toward Christ's last words at Calvary...forgiveness transcends politics and personality. I need not be an expert of Narcotics Legislation to know that life sentences are not justifiable. I speak not as a Republican or a Democrat but as a Catholic . God bless you sir.
3
I think that this is a very big step forward on patching holes that the justice department and us government have created in the drug war. President Obama definitely did the correct thin in this instance. Many people believe that our president hasn't been extremely beneficial over the past 6 years that he has been in office for but this could be a step forward. The 46 charges were nonviolent, which means that the act wasn't harming society much, it was only harming the people who committed the crime. As the President states
"America is a country all about second chances"
and the 14 of the 46 people placed in jail for life simply didn't deserve the severe punishment for the minor offenses that they committed. These people will now be able to live the lives that they did once.
As the justice department stated, these individuals have demonstrated capabilities of living a crime free life, and obviously deserve the second chance that they were given. Although the drug users know they are committing a crime and realize that if they are caught serious punishments can be in order, these people have already served time is jail, and will continue to serve until late November. The united states governments is most definitely one of the most advanced in the world, and would never let convicts out that were believed to be a threat to citizens. I feel that this decision made by the president will turn out to be a very big step forward.
"America is a country all about second chances"
and the 14 of the 46 people placed in jail for life simply didn't deserve the severe punishment for the minor offenses that they committed. These people will now be able to live the lives that they did once.
As the justice department stated, these individuals have demonstrated capabilities of living a crime free life, and obviously deserve the second chance that they were given. Although the drug users know they are committing a crime and realize that if they are caught serious punishments can be in order, these people have already served time is jail, and will continue to serve until late November. The united states governments is most definitely one of the most advanced in the world, and would never let convicts out that were believed to be a threat to citizens. I feel that this decision made by the president will turn out to be a very big step forward.
2
How do we explain Obama's strange, all most exclusive obsession with"fairness" for drug dealers? Is he concerned about their victims, the addicts, the addicts families, the OD's, the victims of drug related crime and devastated communities? Apparently not. In the America of Obama's and liberal Democrat's outré delusions the drug dealers are the victims.
7
Drug dealing is not a victimless crime and I think he is pushing it when he says it is a non-violent crime. Many a drug dealer has been known to kill to cover their tracks. Many drug dealer has pushed this poison on children to get them hooked and use them for other illegal activity after they can't live without the high. Actually that is how their game is played and their money gets bigger. So you're very right this is not a victimless crime and it is stretching to say it's nonviolent when you have 14 yo
Turning tricks with black eyes because her drug dealer has got her hooked and now she is forced to pay for that high with her body or be beat to death. These are low life's bottom feeders. I can see letting people out for marijuana or drinking but these heaving drug dealing repeat offenders forget it they selfishly destroy everything in their path. Free the users that just needed help, the pot sellers and users the drunks but these crack and coke dealers should rot because guaranteed it's not their first trip in!
Turning tricks with black eyes because her drug dealer has got her hooked and now she is forced to pay for that high with her body or be beat to death. These are low life's bottom feeders. I can see letting people out for marijuana or drinking but these heaving drug dealing repeat offenders forget it they selfishly destroy everything in their path. Free the users that just needed help, the pot sellers and users the drunks but these crack and coke dealers should rot because guaranteed it's not their first trip in!
1
Drugs are a victimless crime.
Shame on this President for not freeing more prisoners. We have far too many people in our American Gulag imprisoned for the same offense that Obama himself committed when he was in high school. This stingy response to our over populated prisons shows that Obama, for all the law schooling he has had, doesn't understand the meaning of justice. We have almost 2 million prisoners in jails for various offenses, many of them misdemeanors. Some of the harshest penal systems like Saudi Arabia's have commuted the sentences of hundreds of prisoners annually at the end of Ramadan.Obama shows himself to be tentative rather than decisive, gutless rather than audacious. Now we see that above all he has never fired anyone because he lacked all along any experience or ability to command. He shows none of the confidence that a leader must have to show magnanimity such as President Grant showed in his general amnesty to defeated Confederate troops.
1
And may they all move into your neighborhood. Agreed?
3
Shame on you, too. Smoking dope didn't hurt Obama's career in Chicago, your home town. And as President Grant said of defeated Southern troops, these are our countrymen. What are we going to do with these men and women, these young men and young women, these fathers and mothers of children? And what are we going to do with their children? Behead most of the parents for simple drug possession, as in Saudi Arabia? You need to heed the redemptive words of the surviving relatives of Charleston's A.M.E. Church to Dylann Roof, and apply them to many of the non-violent drug users. Unlike Obama, they were arrested and imprisoned for mere possession. They were unlucky. And they did nothing as heinous as Dylann Roof.
1
I was unaware that Obama trafficked or dealt crack or powdered cocaine in high school that is news to me
I'm a moderate conservative who supports the president - something I rarely say - and am very touched by his letters. I only hope some of these offenders take his words to heart.
1
Rush Limbaugh was a drug offender, wasn't he?
3
So was Obama.
5
Touché...
Although in my own lifetime I've lost large amounts of money to people taking drugs (stealing, bad checks, embezzlement, irresponsibility, etc), I still think that the penalties are given very arbitrarily. Usually the easiest-caught get the severest prison terms, at least in the aggregate.
Let's look at prevention, not vengeance, especially when no one has been physically injured. Yes, I do indeed want my money back, but I wouldn't even consider giving someone more than 6 months to a year in prison for what they did to me. As "victim", I'd be profoundly ashamed of myself for vengefully stealing the only real thing we all own: the years of our lifetime.
Let's look at prevention, not vengeance, especially when no one has been physically injured. Yes, I do indeed want my money back, but I wouldn't even consider giving someone more than 6 months to a year in prison for what they did to me. As "victim", I'd be profoundly ashamed of myself for vengefully stealing the only real thing we all own: the years of our lifetime.
5
These mercies seemed to have handed out crack cocaine defendants. Is that fair? It's not race neutral, that's for sure.
There were longer sentences mandated for crack cocaine than for powder cocaine. I don't think it's a coincidence that the crack epidemic hit black neighborhoods harder than white neighborhoods; white cocaine users were more likely to use the powder form. The longer sentences for the same drug can hardly be called "race neutral". Where was the fairness there?
2
Forty-six Mr. Presedent? Really? Over a MILLION people reside behind bars on non-violent drug related offenses. A million souls in chains, and you could find clemency for only 46?! Never mind the countless millions who have, the scarlet letter of a drug conviction, been excommunicated from the most basic forms of economic participation in our society, a job, a family. And this injustice falls more harshly on the backs of African Americans than any in our "free" nation! How can you sleep at night knowing this when, but for the grace of God, your own drug use could have placed you on the other side of the bars that these 46 men spent the prime of their life in? Both of us shared a similar experience with illegal drugs. Are either of us dangerous drug crazed monsters? Of course not. By virtue of luck, as by anything else, our experience with drugs was but a short chapter in otherwise productive lives. Now let's look at those who were not so lucky. Those whose lives began in abject poverty, or who had parents who were incarcerated for their own drug use. What of them Mr. President? Do they have a voice? Or are the policeman's unions, and the for-profit prison establishment, and the pharmaceutical companies somehow of greater worth than those languishing in prison year after year? Make no mistake Mr. President, this is the DEFINING issue of racial and social justice in the 21st century. If you, with all the political capital in your hands, cannot break these chains, who will?
3
Non-violent offenders? Drug dealers? Really? What about the addicts, the addicts families, the OD's, devastated families and communities and the violent crime interwoven with drug dealing? Non-violent? Geeez....
3
Obama likes to test the public responses. If there's a public groundswell behind more commutations, he'll exploit it, but he won't overtly instigate it. He leads from behind always. Many an Eagle Scout has had more command experience in leadership than Obama. Maybe that is why we still need Presidents with some military experience, even if it's no more than R.O.T.C. At least they understand the need for command experience based on previous experience following orders to satisfy a commander. Leadership requires decisiveness, not half-measures; and decisive leaders inspire public confidence with actions, not mere words. Nor are they afraid to call out slackers, or to say, occasionally, heaven forfend the Trumpism, "You're fired!"
2
I'm not the one who labels these offenses "non violent." Our criminal justice system does that. And the vast majority of "drug addicts" suffer from the disease of addiction because of their environment. Just as tainted water is the disease carrying vector in undeveloped nations, so systemic poverty and hopelessness are the means of transmission for addiction. Putting people who are sick in prison is not my idea of justice. Mark my word, this will be the largest social and racial justice issue since the Civil Rights Act.
Nothing is so surely written in the book of fate than that these people shall be free.
Nothing is so surely written in the book of fate than that these people shall be free.
There are thousands upon thousands of individuals in the same situation as those 46 whose sentences were today commuted. The President should establish a well-supervised task force to come up with recommendations for all those incarcerated under Federal law for first offense drug law violations.
Then a review should be made of the fairness of sentences for other drug law violaters.
A fairer equality of treatment between races could be achieved and much money might be saved.
Of course, we also ought to jail the executives whose corporations are found to break laws, instead of just fining the corporations.
Then a review should be made of the fairness of sentences for other drug law violaters.
A fairer equality of treatment between races could be achieved and much money might be saved.
Of course, we also ought to jail the executives whose corporations are found to break laws, instead of just fining the corporations.
1
People who say that Obama must pardon Snowden are missing the point. Pardon is only available if the person is convicted of 'offences against the United States'. Some may argue, rightly, that Snowden committed no offense against the country and should be bestowed the presidential medal of freedom.
Way to go, Barack.
Way to go, Barack.
3
You have a short memory sir. Richard Nixon was pardoned by Pres. Gerald Ford without any charges being proffered by anyone. Nixon resigned prior to the House voting Articles of Impeachment. I may be wrong but, Snowden is under grand jury indictment, isn't he?
1
Robert, you are completely wrong.
Nixon's case was already before the House Committee, and they voted to impeach. Largely a symbolic gesture, Ford pardoned Nixon to as Ford said "end the long national nightmare" and keep Congress from pursing criminal charges against Nixon.
Snowden has not been tried or convicted of any crime before a deliberative body. Nothing to pardon.
Nixon's case was already before the House Committee, and they voted to impeach. Largely a symbolic gesture, Ford pardoned Nixon to as Ford said "end the long national nightmare" and keep Congress from pursing criminal charges against Nixon.
Snowden has not been tried or convicted of any crime before a deliberative body. Nothing to pardon.
1
Prescription drugs kill far more people in the USA than all illegal drugs combined.
Much too often, these deaths are caused by drugs whose adverse effects, including death, are known by Big Pharma. But since no one faces prison time, the calculations are made economically: it's hugely profitable to kill and pay the fine. Just take a glance at the massive fines paid over and over by big pharmaceutical companies: obviously they aren't deterrents.
You might read Deadly Medicines by Peter C Gotzsche, the first prize winning book of the British Medical Association.
In this context, think of the prisoners given draconian decades-long sentences here in America.
Much too often, these deaths are caused by drugs whose adverse effects, including death, are known by Big Pharma. But since no one faces prison time, the calculations are made economically: it's hugely profitable to kill and pay the fine. Just take a glance at the massive fines paid over and over by big pharmaceutical companies: obviously they aren't deterrents.
You might read Deadly Medicines by Peter C Gotzsche, the first prize winning book of the British Medical Association.
In this context, think of the prisoners given draconian decades-long sentences here in America.
4
I absolutely unequivocally applaud the President for this move. But most of our wars - drugs, poverty, terrorism, sex - have been an absolute failure. It's not that we shouldn't take on all of these this as a society - it's just that we are using one tool to do so: morality based on law. Problem is, human behavior can run amok of law for a variety of reasons. I would suggest we are entering an age where science will drive solutions - instead of stoic morality based doctrine to answer a need where science can do a better job. We're not there yet as a society - but "just saying no" to antiquated approaches to human failures - is the best place to start. Bravo, Mr. President. Bravo.
OK, good for starters, Pres. Now, Pardon Edward Snowden.
7
Thank you President Obama.
I'm always ashamed when a friend from another country asks me why we have such a large percentage of our people in jail.
I wonder how strongly the private prison companies, like Corrections Corporation of America, lobby for prison terms for minor drug offenses and thus contribute to the numbers.
I'm always ashamed when a friend from another country asks me why we have such a large percentage of our people in jail.
I wonder how strongly the private prison companies, like Corrections Corporation of America, lobby for prison terms for minor drug offenses and thus contribute to the numbers.
5
He said "America is a nation of second chances". For a guy who had committed the same offence three times previously and serving time for the third time, it was his fourth chance. Secondly, why did he not commute the sentences of ALL serving for drug offenses?
2
Although I think that you're on the right track when you suggest that President Obama commute the sentences of many more drug offenders, I think you go too far when you suggest ALL of them.
Can we compromise and go a little more slowly and with care?
Can we compromise and go a little more slowly and with care?
1
Mandatory sentencing -- another failed federal experiment that has destroyed the lives of thousands, and has added to the list of abject failures in the so called War on Drugs.
So a total of similar commutations for the President is now 89. How many others with similar criminal profiles continue to live their lives behind bars??? Why wasn’t this part of this article?
So a total of similar commutations for the President is now 89. How many others with similar criminal profiles continue to live their lives behind bars??? Why wasn’t this part of this article?
Yes, I guess drug dealing can be a nonviolent crime. Yet these dealers, etc must take some responsibility for the violence associated with the use of these drugs being sold by nonviolent criminals. I would hope that someone/agency would keep alert to any further arrests of these "folks" that were given pardons because their crimes were nonviolent. And, what would be the consequence should they be arrested on similar or the same charges that incarcerated them the first time?
Just another step in the democrats master plan to get voting rights for convicted felons still incarcerated.
2
For all of you who think this was a good idea ( and there are many) let me enlighten you on a few points.... these drug dealers have no formal education - where are they going to work? What will be their place of dwelling? Are you or your relatives going to give them a "spot on your couch"? Can they live among your wives, daughters and sons? No?!! I guess not... you did not think that through... and let's get this in ... the final reality... what do you think is going to happen to the people that testified against them??! You people are "sheep-people"! You deserve whatever happens to you! This is one [retired] State Trooper that has had it with your celebration for the "criminal and wicked" and your [do nothing] stance for the victims. A pox on all of your houses! Not one of you nor the President is going to welcome "one of these pardoned drug dealers" into your homes Surely you would want to "see and experience" (up close and personal) how much that dealer has been "rehabilitated"?!! Think of what that [experience] would do for your family?!
I'm not impressed by this made-for-tv-movie.
The problem is excess laws, predatory cops, blackmailing guilty plea deals from persecutors and Judges always running for the seat being tough on defendants.
It is time to begin repealing laws that outlaw normal human behavior.
Stop listening to what laws the cops want and serve the people.
The problem is excess laws, predatory cops, blackmailing guilty plea deals from persecutors and Judges always running for the seat being tough on defendants.
It is time to begin repealing laws that outlaw normal human behavior.
Stop listening to what laws the cops want and serve the people.
1
Looking beyond today's progress, detox/rehab would be much more constructive, humane and economical than incarceration. Why should imprisonment be so reflexive and in budget? People make mistakes without being unfit for society.
2
Mr. President, there are hundreds more such non-violent drug offenders. Getting a list of such offenders,( which should'nt be hard ) and giving them all second choices with a stroke of your pen will save them from injustice. Hope you will hear my plea.
5
My thoughts first went to jurors who have had their lives interrupted by these many, many trials.
Really?
1
A lot of them were plea bargained, I would imagine..not many can afford a trial..or the time it would consume. So they plead out hoping in a justice system that does not work for them.
I hope these men and women will take their new responsibilities very seriously. They can begin the changes that many of us have wanted for our judicial and enforcement agencies, by setting an example of success. I hope these commutations will also make spokespeople of each person, in their communities and for young people who may be leaning towards trouble. May they find decent jobs, and real second chances. I'm cheering for you all.
3
Don't hold your breath. Lucky if more than 1-2% make something of themselves. Half will probably end up back in jail. They are not innocent. I agree though, to many people in jail for to long for low level drug crimes.
1
Congratulations! If he'd waited for Congrees they would do life.
3
Congress isn't allowed to commute sentences. A better statement would be that Obama made them wait 7 years.
Congress can change law. If Obama had done this in his first term he wouldn't have had a second.
The "war on drugs" dealt out draconian mandatory sentences for drug possession/sales that routinely exceeded sentences for murder--this is a small but important step by the President.
9
I have always thought we as a nation should be spending our resources on addressing the reasons so much of our population become drug users and abusers rather than spending so much on the punishment side of the equation. Give better education, better opportunity, better after school activities. Give hope and dreams that tie rewards to meaningful effort. Spending fortunes on long sentences for drug crimes takes resources away that could be instead used to address the demand side of the equation. Kudos for Mr Obama having the courage to take steps in the right direction here.
3
Thank goodness President Obama can draw from his own experience and realize that nonviolent drug users are not throwaways. He himself moved away from drug use and, without a run-in against law enforcement and incarceration, went on to become President.
4
President Obama,
It's time for the constitutional law professor(???) to give a full pardon, apology and back-pay to Mr. Eric Snowden for doing what you failed to do during your entire two terms in office: Preserve, protect and defend the constitution. That's the least you can do for blatantly violating the 4th amendment to the constitution and escaping impeachment. Apparently, only lying under oath about sexual indiscretion and marital infidelity now rises to the level of high crimes and misdemeanors. One can make a strong case that the NSA's collection of full content of all electronic communications and bills of all American citizens inhibits free speech and so violates the first amendment as well. I'll even settle for the next President to give you a pardon for your crime if you come clean.
It's time for the constitutional law professor(???) to give a full pardon, apology and back-pay to Mr. Eric Snowden for doing what you failed to do during your entire two terms in office: Preserve, protect and defend the constitution. That's the least you can do for blatantly violating the 4th amendment to the constitution and escaping impeachment. Apparently, only lying under oath about sexual indiscretion and marital infidelity now rises to the level of high crimes and misdemeanors. One can make a strong case that the NSA's collection of full content of all electronic communications and bills of all American citizens inhibits free speech and so violates the first amendment as well. I'll even settle for the next President to give you a pardon for your crime if you come clean.
5
Legalize all drugs. Tax them. End the for profit private prison system. End the destruction of nation states by their resident drug cartels. End the violence. End the appalling waste of money fighting a war that cannot be won. Admit defeat and rise above it. What really is the reason to continue the war on drugs and to resist their legalization? A certain percentage of the population uses drugs. It's likely they will continue. It is not likely that just because drugs are legalized, everyone will use them. And the tax revenue will be tremendous in volume and impact. Monies now being withdrawn from treatment centers can be reapplied. Crime essentially goes away, specifically violent cartel related crime. Just think. All those cartel leaders get the opportunity to turn into Joe Kennedy.
6
I think of myself as being a fiscal conservative. Less so on social issues. And one who rarely votes democrat. But in this I have confidence the President has vetted the people whose sentences he has commuted. And I am rooting for the record to show, 10 years from now, that he made the right call on each and every one of these people.
5
Having lived through the crack epidemic here in NYC I was happy for the laws that locked these people away. 2,500 murders In a years, tens of thousands of people beaten, 1,000's maimed for life, not an exaggeration. A total loss of security in your home or person. Time has moved on. The city was made livable again and has prospered. The President granted Clemency not Pardon. I support him in this change.
9
This sounds like a really good idea. These people have served time -- at least 10 years according to this article. I am hoping that we will not have a "Willie Horton" situation, though.
I was able to find a list of the 46. All but one was for intent to sell cocaine and crack cocaine with varying different sentence lengths. Nothing was given as to whether sentences were given based on 1st time or repeat offenders and ethnic back rounds were not mentioned. While I'm not anti drug, cocaine and especially crack cocaine is not like selling pot.
4
One thing I forgot to mention in my comment was that on some of the convictions a weapons charge was included. But then again a seller should deserve self protection especially when your clients could possible be crack cocaine addicts.
2
Yes, some of the people Obama just commuted were repeat offenders.
2
Many times compassion blinds so a very relevant question - Would you trust any of these pardoned felons alone with your children or wife?
1
There are millions of people walking the streets whom I would not trust alone with a rabid raccoon let alone a human being or domestic animal. That doesn't automatically translate to "must be locked away from society for years or decades on end."
10
Not sure it matters. There are people walking around in this country who have never served time, and I would never trust them with my wife or children.
5
Would you not? If so, which ones, and for what reason. See? Not a question that can or should be answered or asked without more information.
Cost per year of prison is approx $30,000. $30,000 x 46 = $1,380,000 per year. It may be worth that much for violent offenders, burglars, muggers, etc. Is it worth that much to continue our failed and pointless War on Drugs (total cost per year = $50 billion)?
The WoD has been fought for approx. 40 years = $2 trillion. Well worth the violence, cartels, human misery, gangs, and other wonderful results of the illegality and high price of recreational drugs, including heroin. A person's use of drugs is not my business any more than a person's smoking or drinking is my business.
Don't bother...I have heard all the rationalizations for keeping drugs illegal.
The WoD has been fought for approx. 40 years = $2 trillion. Well worth the violence, cartels, human misery, gangs, and other wonderful results of the illegality and high price of recreational drugs, including heroin. A person's use of drugs is not my business any more than a person's smoking or drinking is my business.
Don't bother...I have heard all the rationalizations for keeping drugs illegal.
7
Drug addicts will lie, steal, injure, and kill to feed their addiction.
Those who supply them at any level are culpable.
Those who supply them at any level are culpable.
As the country moves toward legalizing cannabis on a state-by-state basis, it seems unfair to have people serve jail time for offenses that are now legal. For instance, prisoners incarcerated for possession of cannabis in Colorado, (prior to the recent change in laws there) as an example. Why shouldn’t changing societal laws apply to people in prison? This would be a direct benefit to the people incarcerated, and in direct benefit to everyone else because of the of not having to bare the high cost of incarceration unnecessarily.
6
El Chapo will be happy to learn about these commutations. More new customers for his cartel. Mr. President, why announce this on the same day of EC's escape from prison in Mexico?
4
newsman911: Absent crimilization El Chapo would have no cartel.
10
Why blame El Chapo? His US customers are the ones bankrolling him.
1
About 20 years ago I took a civil service position with the Commonwealth of PA. As a candidate for a management program I was originally sponsored by the PA State Police. I did tours with about 6 other agencies before I chose my final agency for career work. At state police and the PA Dept. of Corrections I was assigned work both at SP headquarters and at the State Corrections at Camp Hill. What I learned is that many, many people, especially poor, blacks and latinos were serving harsh sentences for minor crimes without violence. These people could not afford high quality defenders and also, they generally lacked education, some even the ability to read. They were previously unemployed and lived in hopelessness. The sentences were not about drug abuse. The sentences were handed out to assure protection of white America. The sentences were grossly unjust. Young men and women were unable to grasp what would happen if they pleaded guilty. They did not understand how a white justice system would simply lock them up and throw away the key.
The problem and the solution is not presidential commutations. The problem is a very biased, bigoted, racially motivated judicial system. Lawyers, legislators, police and prosecutors are all to blame. I am a white man. Until I saw real miscarriages of justice I could not understand the depth of racism in America. We have a deeply flawed, vindictive and racist system of criminal justice. No presidential commutation can end that injustice.
The problem and the solution is not presidential commutations. The problem is a very biased, bigoted, racially motivated judicial system. Lawyers, legislators, police and prosecutors are all to blame. I am a white man. Until I saw real miscarriages of justice I could not understand the depth of racism in America. We have a deeply flawed, vindictive and racist system of criminal justice. No presidential commutation can end that injustice.
76
Great comment
46,000 would be better, but 46 is a start.
5
I just hope none of these 46 commits another crime.
2
Spoken like a true believer. None of these 46 did anything worthy of a sentence of more than ten years to life. Their offenses were non violent in nature and under today's standards such harshness would never have been imposed on them. I just hope the criminal justice system hasn't criminalizes them so that a return to society is not impossible.
6
I find it interesting that the liquor dealers, bottlers, distributors, etc. are considered upstanding citizens -- and the scions of the booze families like the Coors, strohs, etc. are socialites -- yet their wares cause far more disease and drunk-driving deaths than any 10,000 pot dealers do, combined.
Which of them, morally speaking, is the greater criminal? The greater danger to society?
Which of them, morally speaking, is the greater criminal? The greater danger to society?
17
Yet another great move by President Obama. If I had been caught with certain unmentionables back in the day, I might be in prison myself (well, I'm white, so probably not). Instead, for the past 26 years I've served the community as a firefighter and by helping other addicts recover.
20
I salute the President for doing this. Most of the people in prison today are there for non-violent drug-related crimes. America's prison population is larger than Russia and Chinas prison population COMBINED. And it has grown exponentially since Reagan started the 'War on Drugs' back during his Presidency. The Bush and Clinton eras just brought more of the same and caused the prison industrial complex to grow into a billion dollar industry that has a very strong lobby force behind it. Few people would guess that our prison population leaped from approximately 350,000 to almost 2.3 million in such a short period of time due to changes in laws and policies, NOT changes in crime rates. Long mandatory drug sentences are mostly unjustified for non-violent offenders and do little to stop the actual drug problem. Since the Reagan era, Federal grants have been given to those cities police force who arrest people for drugs. More arrests = more money law enforcement receives. Law enforcement even has the ability to make money off of seizing property from those people that are arrested for a drug crime (doesn't have to be convicted). Approximately 80% of criminal defendants are indigent and unable to hire a lawyer. Yet our nations' public defender system is woefully inadequate. Once out of prison you are LEGALLY discriminated against when it comes to employment, housing, aid, etc. We have lost the war on drugs but continue to fight a losing battle.
7
According to "The New Jim Crow", Blacks and Hispanics were targeted by the Drug War. White folks prefer alcoholic beverages. Blacks and Hispanics prefer Marijuana and Opiates. So the law makes alcohol possession a non-crime and possession of marijuana and opiates a felony. If the D.A. charges you with a Drug crime, you risk a 20 year sentence if you go to trial. Even without any evidence, except the word of an informant, that can get you 20. A plea deal means that you are still a felon, even without prison time, and you can no longer vote, be on a jury, as well as lose most entitlements. This is a deliberate attempt to turn Black and Hispanic males into permanent second class citizens.
The Police and D.A. have huge discretion on where to enforce the Drug Laws.
It just so happens that they rarely if ever enforce these laws in the wealthy enclaves, even when they get legitimate reports from neighbors. It is in the poor, black and Hispanic areas of down that get the "benefit" of strong, tough policing, resulting in broken homes, lack of political representation and a cycle of poverty.
This is intentional, not coincidental. Once you are labeled as a "felon", you are a criminal for life and not worthy of respect or a second chance. This is the purpose of the drug war. To maintain racism by a different approach.
The Police and D.A. have huge discretion on where to enforce the Drug Laws.
It just so happens that they rarely if ever enforce these laws in the wealthy enclaves, even when they get legitimate reports from neighbors. It is in the poor, black and Hispanic areas of down that get the "benefit" of strong, tough policing, resulting in broken homes, lack of political representation and a cycle of poverty.
This is intentional, not coincidental. Once you are labeled as a "felon", you are a criminal for life and not worthy of respect or a second chance. This is the purpose of the drug war. To maintain racism by a different approach.
4
Yes, when one breaks the law, one should be penalized; but to sentence someone to life for committing a non capital or a non treasonous offence is for the barbaric ages. Indeed, if drugs were decriminalized, even Chapo Guzman may not exist. Decriminalization would remove all profit and turf wars. Did Prohibition work? If we were to criminalize smoking, would anyone countenance life imprisonment?
3
It should be obvious to any thinking person that the solution to out prison crises is legalization.
Terrible to imagine the plight of individuals serving time for illegal gun possession, for example. Legalizing guns to anyone without those pesky qualifications would solve this in a snap- and would stop the street market for illegal guns.
Or people in prison for things as silly as murder or rape. Again, legalize and now you've freed up our prison space and destroyed the street rape/murder market in one blow.
In fact why not get to the root of the problem and legalize - illegality! That's right, the whole nine yards. Suddenly we are looking at an America free from the shackles of the evil Prison corporations— which as every knows, are responsible for everything from burnt toast, to missing socks— and the streets will be free from all these illegal trades except for a few carefully monitored dispensaries for "medical" rape, murder, and crime.
Think of the tax benefits and it's (literally) a no brainer.
Terrible to imagine the plight of individuals serving time for illegal gun possession, for example. Legalizing guns to anyone without those pesky qualifications would solve this in a snap- and would stop the street market for illegal guns.
Or people in prison for things as silly as murder or rape. Again, legalize and now you've freed up our prison space and destroyed the street rape/murder market in one blow.
In fact why not get to the root of the problem and legalize - illegality! That's right, the whole nine yards. Suddenly we are looking at an America free from the shackles of the evil Prison corporations— which as every knows, are responsible for everything from burnt toast, to missing socks— and the streets will be free from all these illegal trades except for a few carefully monitored dispensaries for "medical" rape, murder, and crime.
Think of the tax benefits and it's (literally) a no brainer.
2
If this is supposed to be irony it's pathetic. If not, it's pathetic.
4
@lisa A typical well reasoned liberal counter argument- heavy on the content and specifics. (This time I'll give it away- ironic.)
1
It's hard to even put into words the pittance of commuting the sentences of 46 people when there 2+ million others in "correctional" institutions across our country (not to even mention those on probation, parole or other forms of oversight - ie: many millions more). The justice system in this country is a hateful and ever-expanding & mostly unaccountable jobs program that employs hundreds of thousands of police, agents, court workers, etc. that refuses to be downsized or reigned-in. The misery and loss of putting people in prisons is so ugly, vindictive, and counter-productive that we want to hide from it, and this isn't even mentioning the controversial but growing private prison industry. Certainly many individuals commit crimes that warrant their being separated from the rest of society, but locking up people for ultra long stretches (in heinous conditions) for non-violent (and often consensual) crimes is just human waste on a massive scale. I applaud Obama for his symbolic action, but his extra-judicial daily drone bombings, keeping Guantanamo open, and other military barbarity send the exact opposite, and maybe more telling message. We're an ultra-violent nation with minimal amounts of societal compassion & empathy, and it starts at the top of our political and corporate "leadership".
3
I support the policy. This was not done at the spur of the moment, but is part of a plan launched last year as part of rationalizing US drug policy. According to the NYT article, those whose sentences were commuted first had to qualify for consideration: "generally nonviolent inmates who have served more than 10 years in prison; have behaved well while incarcerated; and who would not have received as lengthy a sentence under today’s revised sentencing rules."
1
In the world we know today lets do this, make all drugs legal to be sold by local, state and federal licensed dealers. I'm assuming the price of drugs would go way down and we completely eliminate all black market dealers, thus eliminating all incarcerated illegal dealers. Because we all know it worked for everything else from general products to guns, alcohol and tobacco. Like the boy and the dyke, plug one hole and another one opens.
2
The comparison to LBJ seems odd. Shouldn't the comparison be to Presidential pardons during or at the end of Prohibition, hence FDR? And the chosen comparison makes it seem as if the President is doing something extraordinary, when the Presidential pardon/commute numbers are often in the thousands.
Ah, but this sis not the end of Prohibition, the president can't by himself legalize drugs.
Stop the drug prosecutions and release the hundreds of thousands that should never have gone to prison. The drug laws create criminal behavior, subsidize it by raising prices and create violence by keeping the market for drugs underground with no protections.
3
I knew he was concerned about the enormity of the unfairness. What I did not know was how few there were- 46!
Local politicians benefit form the "tough on crime" message. To get votes, they make people think their tax dollars are creating security, so they arrest in droves, even petty "criminals" who posses drugs. This practice needs to be exposed for the political farce that it is, far from sound tax dollars well spent on criminal justice. In fact, it is irresponsible and drains our coffers, funneling money into "crime prevention," prisons, and a police state. Our tax dollars should be spent on infrastructure, new parks, better roads. Don't waste our hard earned money putting a weed grower behind bars. Thanks President Obama for sending the right message, hopefully starting a reverse trend from the "war on drugs" to functional, fair, smart system.
5
The guy from Michigan he commuted had four prior drug convictions and pled guilty to dealing heroin. I guess we can argue about whether distributing heroin is "non-violent" but seems pretty clear he had at least four chances to change that he did not take before this new "second" chance. Can the Prez count?
4
How long has this one served on his last conviction, and how old is he now?
1
Always good to know just who Obama speaks for, isn't it?
1
Got a link for this information? I don't see anyone on the list meeting that description.
1
I'm struck by drug dealer apologist who characterize dealing as non-violent. Drug dealers participate in a chain of illegal and often violent activities that may result in a "non-violent" sale to people who may have committed crimes to have acquired the drugs. There is no drug dealer that enter the profession without a full and complete knowledge of the illegality of their actions and the consequences of their behavior.
4
Unlike, say, gun dealers who repeatedly sell to criminals, ranchers who don't wanna pay their grazing fees and then wave guns at sheriffs, "health supplement," sellers of quack nostrums, governors of Florida who get a $300 mil golden parachute after running a $1.5 billion Medicare fraud, Vice Presidents who push us into stupid wars and get 5000 lr so Americans killed for nothing...
25
So your logic is that, if someone does something you disapprove of, them all crimes are acceptable.
Admittedly, the drug laws, especially those mandated long-term, minimum sentences are a legacy from the so-called "war on drugs." However, there is a chasm separating convictions for relatively harmless drugs, such as possession of marijuana, and possession with intent to sell of killer drugs such as cocaine.
Weren't the felons whose sentences were commuted cocaine pushers, destroyers of people's lives? Perhaps those whose lives these felons helped to destroy also were from "overrepresented" minorities.
Weren't the felons whose sentences were commuted cocaine pushers, destroyers of people's lives? Perhaps those whose lives these felons helped to destroy also were from "overrepresented" minorities.
7
It's foolish to talk about the "legacy" of the war on drugs as though it's over, when you're still calling drug dealers "pushers", as though they have to persuade people to buy.
Dick Nixon's war on drugs is still as active, as expensive, and as senseless as ever. We should indeed stop it.
Dick Nixon's war on drugs is still as active, as expensive, and as senseless as ever. We should indeed stop it.
9
Manufacturers, sellers of cigarettes are not "destroyers of people's lives" ??
2
Congratulations on a good move! I'm still not certain what drugs should be legal, but sentences overall are far too harsh.
10
SMART LAW The propaganda we've heard from the right on crime and punishment is a blunt weapon. Beyond that, it is unfair, arbitrary and capricious, solely on the basis that it discriminates disproportionately against males of African American and Latino backgrounds. Punishments are doled out not to fit the crime, but rather based upon racial profiling, which is unconstitutional. Evidence of such discrimination is far from subtle. It's right in our faces. We see it on the tragedy of innocent young men and even children of color shot dead by police who, based on videos of their actions, seem to agitated to be able to make an accurate judgment about the level of threat they face. Moreover, the intent of incarceration is to provide a time for quiet contemplation so prisoners can reflect on the errors of their ways and act in lawful ways after paying their debt to society. Given the culture of chaos and violence in prisons, those ideas sound laughably naive. On some level, the thinking involved with severe sentencing is based on people who were subjected to overly punitive behavior as children and believe that it was helpful to them in becoming responsible adults. Given the behavior of obstructionists in Congress, no amount of aggression doled out during their collective childhood could possible have had the desired effect. When they do not get their way, their thoughts and actions are blatantly infantile. I salute Obama for commuting sentences and await many more!
11
Leadership by example, and one can only hope the governor in every state will follow. (I won't hold my breath, however.)
Also a reminder that compassion is much needed in our treatment of far too many in our country's jails.
I do wonder if Koch Industries' owners will be instigating hiring policies that deal thoughtfully with individuals with prison records. That is probably as unlikely as asking that they stop supporting efforts to limit voting.
Also a reminder that compassion is much needed in our treatment of far too many in our country's jails.
I do wonder if Koch Industries' owners will be instigating hiring policies that deal thoughtfully with individuals with prison records. That is probably as unlikely as asking that they stop supporting efforts to limit voting.
14
I don't know but why don't you ask the question of more local industries. Why bring the Koch family into it at all. Unless you think they are the boogie man.
Lets see, at $50,000/year for incarceration costs, multiplied by 46, that comes to $2,300,000 of taxpayer money saved. Not bad for a few minutes work.
31
That's only one side of the story. You don't really think the released felons will be working any time soon? At least not pursuing a legal job.
Glen, how do you know they would all have been jailed only one more year?
John Eight, I had intended to say "per year."
Any way you look at it, it's a tidy sum that we're not paying any more. And per year makes it a whole lot tidier.
Ann, I don't think any of these folks will be collecting compensation for being wrongfully convicted. Innocence is not the issue. Idiocy of the sentencing is. Will they look for jobs? If I were one of them, I'd move directly to Colorado or Washington. Two beautiful places to live, for many, many reasons.
Glen
Any way you look at it, it's a tidy sum that we're not paying any more. And per year makes it a whole lot tidier.
Ann, I don't think any of these folks will be collecting compensation for being wrongfully convicted. Innocence is not the issue. Idiocy of the sentencing is. Will they look for jobs? If I were one of them, I'd move directly to Colorado or Washington. Two beautiful places to live, for many, many reasons.
Glen
1
Although what President Obama did here was compassionate, it still is bad politics. He should have waited until the last few days of his administration, then, in true Bill Clinton style, gone nuts with his pardon pen. Doing this now after a major drug trafficker just escaped from a Mexican prison is bad optics, which is the hallmark of bad politics. If it looks bad because of timing, it IS bad.
3
But didn't you hear that political analyst, (anal being the best description), from The View? She said that guy from Mexico was part of Trump's plan.
There are many good alternatives to just putting a person behind bars. The only people who need to be in prison are those who have the potential to do physical harm to society like a murderer, child abuser or rapists. Community service, electronic monitoring and close supervision are all good alternatives to see that a person has a fair chance to better their life and move forward to do good for society. Europeans countries are a good example for us to learn from. The alternatives will also reduce the public's cost of incarceration and would help bring more useful members back into the public.
40
So you would let strong arm burglars or B&E artists or even second story men go free?
Drug laws are broke and need to be revised. There needs to be more help given and less incarceration for users. There needs to be severe punishment for those who sell and that means the person with a supply sufficient for more than say five people vs just two. We need to rethink the legalization of cannabis as there is research showing that young people are permanently negatively affected by use. Drunk (alcohol, cocaine cannabis, whatever) drivers who cause a fatality or severe injury accident should lose their driving privileges for life, no recourse. When damage is done, the penalty be severe. Promoting the addiction of a person should have heavy penalties. Dealing to under age 18 should have very severe penalties. Alcohol be treated the same as any drug. More deaths and injury and family destruction is done by alcohol than the other drugs. We have cultural malfunctions. Treatment of alcohol as abuse should have a trigger at a lower level of consumption than currently. There should be a serving limit in restaurants and bars, etc that is well below intoxication for the average person and well below driving limits.
1
I think in general we need to reassess the length of sentences the Federal courts are mandated to live by across the board. We incarcerate most convicted of federal crimes for far, far too long.
6
Doesn't he have more important things to do? This looks like he has no faith in his own system. Instead of revisiting sentencing guidelines, he is randomly meddling with just a few and blaming "the system" for inequities. And they are "nonviolent" until your kid is the one doing the drugs they are peddling.
3
It is the system. Do people who sold marijuana in NY state 20 years ago still need to be serving a life sentence? We need to revisit sentencing guidelines. Keep the drug lords locked up and free the non-violent users and dealers who have already served a reasonable amount of time.
9
He allowed to commute sentences, and issue pardons.
Why do you hate the Constitution?
Why do you hate the Constitution?
6
That's the point - it's not "his system". He inherited an unfair system. The U.S. has a higher percentage of its population in Prision doing long sentences than ANY OTHER COUNTRY IN THE WORLD! A disproportionate % of prisoners are minirities. Sell a few ounces of pot on the street and you are getting a public defender and probably Prision time. Do the same thing as an Ivy League and a good atty will get you a slap on the wrist. Maybe the President feels guilty because he smoked pot on a regular basis for how many years?
1
Let's not forget a couple of things..
1 .With the advent of the Commercial Jail Complex ..(ie..where states and communities contract out jail services and facilities to for-profit companies)..then there is an incentive, by them, to get more and more people into jails. This was done in the spirit of running things more efficiently..but we forgot that there are things, like providing jails, which are best left to the state so there is NO profit motive...so there is no inducement by commercial jailers to contribute to legislators..and say, "be tough on crime"..and fill up my jails so I can make more money...
The second item is the 8th amendment's prohibition to cruel and unusual punishment. I have not heard one iota of effort by the ACLU or anyone else argue that life in prison for non-violent drug crimes does not violate that Amendment.
If they break the law..fine..let them do some time..but first, in the words of Socrates, is that law fair, equitale and just. We should be examing the laws to be sure they are fair, equitable and just. Second, lifetime in jail is just wrong in these circumstances.
1 .With the advent of the Commercial Jail Complex ..(ie..where states and communities contract out jail services and facilities to for-profit companies)..then there is an incentive, by them, to get more and more people into jails. This was done in the spirit of running things more efficiently..but we forgot that there are things, like providing jails, which are best left to the state so there is NO profit motive...so there is no inducement by commercial jailers to contribute to legislators..and say, "be tough on crime"..and fill up my jails so I can make more money...
The second item is the 8th amendment's prohibition to cruel and unusual punishment. I have not heard one iota of effort by the ACLU or anyone else argue that life in prison for non-violent drug crimes does not violate that Amendment.
If they break the law..fine..let them do some time..but first, in the words of Socrates, is that law fair, equitale and just. We should be examing the laws to be sure they are fair, equitable and just. Second, lifetime in jail is just wrong in these circumstances.
22
The ACLU has had this on their agenda for several years, beginning with their hiring of Michelle Alexander (see The New Jim Crow, her book on the effects of mass incarceration in the USA).
4
wfkinnc: I believe you're mistaken about the ACLU (and other serious liberals). See
wfkinnc: You're mistaken about the ACLU and other serious liberals. See the ACLU comments on drug law reform. Not as strong as I would like but they are not ignoring the issue.
https://www.aclu.org/issues/criminal-law-reform/drug-law-reform
https://www.aclu.org/issues/criminal-law-reform/drug-law-reform
I would be curious to know how many of these pardoned individuals are incarcerated in Private v.s State owned institutions.
6
These are federal crimes they are in federal institutions.
I agree that these sentences ought to be commuted, provided they are in line with the new federal sentencing guidelines. However, I fervently object to referring to the sale of marijuana or other illegal drugs as a "non-violent crime". Talk to people who live in the border towns in Mexico where killings occur almost daily and who live every day in fear of the members of the drug cartels and tell them to their face that the sale of marijuana is non-violent.
9
The violence in the border towns has less to do with the drug trade than with the policies against the drug trade. It's the war on drugs that creates the "war". This isn't the best book on it, but it's accessible: http://www.amazon.com/Chasing-Scream-First-Last-Drugs/dp/1620408902
2
You mean the border where pot no longer comes into the US because it's become legal. Note that nothing terrible has happened in the states where it's legal or even nearby states. No increase in habituation, no criminal conduct, no move to harder drugs, no additional traffic offenses. Now maybe once we stop worrying about people's personal choices we can get the real bad guys off the streets.
7
Phillip, marijuana doesn't come from Mexico anymore. The cartels' scwhag has not been able compete with the hundreds (if not thousands) of huge, legal or semi-legal operations in California (and now Colorado) for some time now.
Furthermore, you present an argument for broader drug law reform. Cartels exist because a black market exists, and the black market exists because of Americans' thirst for drugs coupled with antiquated and ineffective drug laws.
Furthermore, you present an argument for broader drug law reform. Cartels exist because a black market exists, and the black market exists because of Americans' thirst for drugs coupled with antiquated and ineffective drug laws.
2
46 commuted drug offenders, nothing more than a good start, now for the thousands remaining!
4
Looks like we're getting to the "guilt" stage of Obama's presidency in which he attempts to make up for all the damage his policies such as the TPP have done to working people's lives, and atone for all the things he didn't do, including substantive policy to address inequality rather than the lip service he so frequently served up.
The TPP isn't even in effect yet. How could it have done any damage?
2
No, this is the "Barack Obama thinks you're stupid" stage of the Obama presidency where he tries the equivalent of turning in busy work he scribbled in 5 minutes when the 3 month term paper is due.
I give Obama credit, he knows how dumb, lazy and irresponsible the news media is--he can do something stupid one day (ex. Bergdahl release and this) get worshipped in the news media, and when it backfires and is exposed as a huge blunder the news media is so busy with Kimye and Caitlyn Jenner that nobody notices.
This is how we ended up with Obamacare, undocumented illegals trucked, flown and bussed across the USA and three time drug felons now free to roam the streets.
I give Obama credit, he knows how dumb, lazy and irresponsible the news media is--he can do something stupid one day (ex. Bergdahl release and this) get worshipped in the news media, and when it backfires and is exposed as a huge blunder the news media is so busy with Kimye and Caitlyn Jenner that nobody notices.
This is how we ended up with Obamacare, undocumented illegals trucked, flown and bussed across the USA and three time drug felons now free to roam the streets.
4
The lazy press is responsible of 6.2 million people with health care, no life time caps and no exclusion for pre existing conditions.? Really? No, really? Really?
1
For example, selling a kilo (1000 grams) of marijuana near a school is a felony carrying a sentence of 10 yrs to life. Growing 1,000 or more marijuana plants carried the same 10 yrs to life sentence.
A lot of these sentences were exacerbated by other offenses and priors. Moving a kilo of marijuana near a school isn't an innocent mistake.
Neither is the Obama presidency.
A lot of these sentences were exacerbated by other offenses and priors. Moving a kilo of marijuana near a school isn't an innocent mistake.
Neither is the Obama presidency.
4
Like child pornography, there are some drug crimes who punishment is vastly out of proportion to the damage the act does.
Likewise, at the state level, the punishment for killing someone while driving drunk is shamefully inadequate for the crime.
In both cases, the punishments are for crimes which have visceral public perceptions.
Who would ever advocate any restraint towards people who abuse and exploit children? And, likewise, who would not show "compassion" for the next door neighbor who killed somebody while driving drunk and blowing a 1.5? After all, those people are just people like us.
Likewise, at the state level, the punishment for killing someone while driving drunk is shamefully inadequate for the crime.
In both cases, the punishments are for crimes which have visceral public perceptions.
Who would ever advocate any restraint towards people who abuse and exploit children? And, likewise, who would not show "compassion" for the next door neighbor who killed somebody while driving drunk and blowing a 1.5? After all, those people are just people like us.
1
We were all responsible for these absurdly lengthy sentences. When these mandatory sentences for these light weight crimes were enacted, America’s overall attitude was a “Moral Panic” in response to the over-hyped “War On Drugs”. Also, since most of America’s laws are constructed on racism, the poor and people of color experienced the most inequity from our misdirected public anxiety.
14
Not all of us. "Speak for yourself, John Alden."
what the article doesn't say, the article just says for Drug Offenses. It's really for Cannabis, aka Marijuana, which is mislabelled as a Class 1 drug, the same as Heroin and Cocaine.
What he should do is direct the Justice Department and the DEA is to declassify Cannabis as a Class 1, and decriminalize it and Legalize it as many states have done to assist Soldiers with PTSD and Medical Cannabis. Instead of Pardoning them Obama-Rama, de-criminalize it.
Portugal decriminalized drugs and it's been a RESOUNDING SUCCESS!!!!
All the Latin America countries want to De-criminalyze drugs, but the US is the one that refuses and resists that. WHY? there is too much profit in prosecuting and incarcerating people. To get them on the Electronic Plantation of the Court and criminal system and ruin their lives with a permanent criminal record. Also it supports the PIC Prison Industrial Complex of privatizing the Correction system. And Because the Biggest drug dealer is the US Gov't. US manages the drug trade, and allows it from Afghanistan Heroin to Central / South American countries. US only pretends to be fighting it. US imports it to inner cities, then prosecutes and locks up the minorities who fight and murder over drug turf wars. DEA is the biggest drug dealers and work for the Narco Banksters who launder the drug monies and profits.
What he should do is direct the Justice Department and the DEA is to declassify Cannabis as a Class 1, and decriminalize it and Legalize it as many states have done to assist Soldiers with PTSD and Medical Cannabis. Instead of Pardoning them Obama-Rama, de-criminalize it.
Portugal decriminalized drugs and it's been a RESOUNDING SUCCESS!!!!
All the Latin America countries want to De-criminalyze drugs, but the US is the one that refuses and resists that. WHY? there is too much profit in prosecuting and incarcerating people. To get them on the Electronic Plantation of the Court and criminal system and ruin their lives with a permanent criminal record. Also it supports the PIC Prison Industrial Complex of privatizing the Correction system. And Because the Biggest drug dealer is the US Gov't. US manages the drug trade, and allows it from Afghanistan Heroin to Central / South American countries. US only pretends to be fighting it. US imports it to inner cities, then prosecutes and locks up the minorities who fight and murder over drug turf wars. DEA is the biggest drug dealers and work for the Narco Banksters who launder the drug monies and profits.
4
The "War on Drugs" has done much more harm than the drugs themselves have. This is especially true for black men and their families. The whole crime bill, mandatory-minimum nonsense is just a modern-day version of Jim Crow, Black Codes, "make straw without brick", keep a colored-man down policies. Shame on all Americans for this scourge that we've winked at for two decades. "Just Say No" to bad, racist political policy. Thanks for the drop in the bucket Obama.
6
Obama tells us crime is down and prison populations are up. Yet, he claims to not believe that locking up criminals in prison prevents them from committing crimes and makes law abiding citizens safer. He is more comfortable pandering to his base. Whether it be Cambridge, MA; Sanford, FL; Ferguson, MO; or Baltimore, MD, Mr. Obama has reflexively sided with the suspect rather than letting the justice system take its' course.
He is just another soft on crime leftist.
He is just another soft on crime leftist.
4
He is also showing his true colors.
2
Uh, as a rule people who've been in the slammer for 20 years aren't what you'd call "suspects."
1
Robert, they may not be now, but they were suspects and more twenty years ago. Not only that, but do we really think releasing drug addicts onto the streets won't have an impact on crime?
When the serious conversations (ones including Newt Gingrich and the Koch Brothers) are about how to cut the prison population by ~1 million over the next decade, 46 commutations seems like a cruel joke.
But for 46 families whose lives were destroyed by the carceral state, it means everything. So let's be happy for them at least.
But for 46 families whose lives were destroyed by the carceral state, it means everything. So let's be happy for them at least.
9
If we start treating illegal drug users like human beings then who are we going to join together against when we're circling the wagons at election time? Drug users play an important role as socially acceptable targets to hate, the most important social class when it comes to right wing parties getting elected.
3
For the President, no good deed goes unpunished. From the right and the left.
5
My bookie just informed me that 28 1/2 is the over/under for the number of the pardonees who are arrested within 2 years of release. I'll take the over.
4
I would make the over/under 39 1/2.
1
OK. You've got about 300,000 to go, Mr. President!
14
Keep these commutations coming ~ indeed, up the pace exponentially, I say. These Rockefeller laws have done immeasurable harm to thousands of people, communities and families. I would also argue that THOUSANDS of non violent prisoners, incarcerated for weed offenses, should be granted pardons effectively immediately. It is hard to calculate the costs to our system, to say nothing of the costs to these prisoners, many of whom have been raped and otherwise destroyed by non-violent weed offenses ~ a drug now LEGAL in two different states.
33
Completely agree - it just feels terribly wrong to put people in jail for this. What gives us the right? How can it possibly be justified?
2
My daughter has brain-damaged herself from using marijuana that have a dangerous pesticide. These guys are not first timers but hardened criminals. Non violent my butt. The drug trade is the most violent trade in this country
"The drug trade is the most violent trade in this country"
Only because it's illegal.
Only because it's illegal.
2
Sentencing rules for non-violent drug offenders were Draconian in the past, and making prisoners carry out these life-destroying punishments when under today's rules they never would have had these judgements only makes sense and is only fair. Those who decry the President's actions are crypto-racist. Many will assume (or assert) that those he pardoned are all minorities. This is what we are going to hear from Rush, Glenn and the Fox News crowd. The President has the Constitutional right to grant pardons, and in this case President Obama is absolutely correct. Now if we can only get the States to enact similar correctives to the ineffective and cruel sentencing procedures of the past, we will be moving toward actual justice in our nation.
26
The writer omits the fact that Obama has a dismal record on full parsons. Commutations do not restore rights, unlike pardons. Obama has granted only 64 pardons, about 9 per year. W granted about 23 a year; Clinton 50 a year; George Bush 18 a year; Reagan 49 a year; Carter 134 a year; Ford granted 382 in 29 months, or about 15 a month; Nixon was averaging almost 13 a month; Johnson averaged over 15 a month. Why is the article slanted so favorably towards Obama when his overall mercy record is quite dismal?
3
Excellent question ~ and one I had no idea needed asking.
It would help if President Obama releases into the regular prison population the tens of thousands of prisoners who are being TORTURED in solitary confinement and the SHU. Solitary confinement should be limited to 3 months or less for convicts who become violent within the prison system. Beyond three months is simply cruel and evil.
4
Despite my having voted for Obama twice, I remain a critic of many of his policies. One of the worst has been outlined in Matt Taibbi's book, The Divide.
Taibbi details how Eric Holder, Lanni Breuer, and the Obama Justice Department let bankers, brokers, hedge fund managers, and the people who crashed our economy in 2008-9 off the hook with no criminal charges and no jail time for the offenders, and a mere slap on the wrist with monetary fines for the institutions that it deemed "Too big to fail", while increasing incarceration rates for people with minor offenses and non-violent crimes.
Our prison population has risen dramatically since the day Ronald Reagan was inaugurated. This costs taxpayers trillions of dollars, and keeps a permanent underclass of American citizens with criminal records. The figures weigh most heavily on blacks and Hispanics. Obama's gesture of commutation, while laudable, is merely a drop in the ocean. The United States has more of its population in prison than any other developed nation. We also have far more guns per capita, and we spend more on the military than our allies combined. If you don't see a pattern, and a problem here, you are looking the other way.
Taibbi details how Eric Holder, Lanni Breuer, and the Obama Justice Department let bankers, brokers, hedge fund managers, and the people who crashed our economy in 2008-9 off the hook with no criminal charges and no jail time for the offenders, and a mere slap on the wrist with monetary fines for the institutions that it deemed "Too big to fail", while increasing incarceration rates for people with minor offenses and non-violent crimes.
Our prison population has risen dramatically since the day Ronald Reagan was inaugurated. This costs taxpayers trillions of dollars, and keeps a permanent underclass of American citizens with criminal records. The figures weigh most heavily on blacks and Hispanics. Obama's gesture of commutation, while laudable, is merely a drop in the ocean. The United States has more of its population in prison than any other developed nation. We also have far more guns per capita, and we spend more on the military than our allies combined. If you don't see a pattern, and a problem here, you are looking the other way.
89
HDNY,
I agree with 90% of your post about commutation of sentences. Our Military is at its' lowest levels since WWIll. We must keep our Military at levels appropriate to the current threats around the world. We have Russia, North Korea, ISIS, China, and Japan.
Russia have flown Jets in our airspace off the California coast. We had to run them off with F-16's. James Comey the Director of The FBI said there are Radical Islamic Terrorist cells in all 50 states, The protection of the population of United States is the Presidents' top priority.
GOD BLESS AMERICA
GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS
I agree with 90% of your post about commutation of sentences. Our Military is at its' lowest levels since WWIll. We must keep our Military at levels appropriate to the current threats around the world. We have Russia, North Korea, ISIS, China, and Japan.
Russia have flown Jets in our airspace off the California coast. We had to run them off with F-16's. James Comey the Director of The FBI said there are Radical Islamic Terrorist cells in all 50 states, The protection of the population of United States is the Presidents' top priority.
GOD BLESS AMERICA
GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS
I share your sentiments on these matters. The middle class, to say nothing of the poor, are like rape victims who contracted HIV as a result of the crime. The "rapist" (the infamous .1%) was sentenced to 8 hours of "sensitivity training" while the victim got a hot shower and a cup of coffee. They will very likely never fully recover, but "thems the breaks" when you're not rich.
However, the damage being done to our society by this scurrilous "war on drugs" is the defining social and racial issue of the 21st century. How a black president who also experimented with drugs can allow this evil, pernicious cancer to eat the flesh of his own people is beyond my understanding. This country needs more than symbolic commutation of unjust prison sentences. Think about it! These 46 men were unjustly punished. What does that imply to the million souls in chains for identical crimes?
However, the damage being done to our society by this scurrilous "war on drugs" is the defining social and racial issue of the 21st century. How a black president who also experimented with drugs can allow this evil, pernicious cancer to eat the flesh of his own people is beyond my understanding. This country needs more than symbolic commutation of unjust prison sentences. Think about it! These 46 men were unjustly punished. What does that imply to the million souls in chains for identical crimes?
For those criticizing the president, think again. We claim to be forgiving and compassionate, yet we have a strange way of showing it. Remember the rich white young man from Texas who drove drunk and killed 4 people? The judge gave him NO jail time, because of his "illness"-- a mythical disease called affluenza. Now, consider a poor minority young man caught with drugs, who killed no-one and mainly harmed himself. He gets 25-30 years, largely due to being unable to afford great lawyers.
I'm not saying it's all about race, since some wealthy minority celebrities (movie stars and athletes) have gotten off with a slap on the wrist for possessing drugs. But it certainly is often about social class and how famous you are. I wish that justice were blind, but sadly, it is not. As long as rich people and celebrities receive far more favorable treatment than poor people and those without powerful connections, action by the executive branch is one of the few options for attempting to correct some very unjust judicial practices.
I'm not saying it's all about race, since some wealthy minority celebrities (movie stars and athletes) have gotten off with a slap on the wrist for possessing drugs. But it certainly is often about social class and how famous you are. I wish that justice were blind, but sadly, it is not. As long as rich people and celebrities receive far more favorable treatment than poor people and those without powerful connections, action by the executive branch is one of the few options for attempting to correct some very unjust judicial practices.
77
Well said Donna and as the President said, the punishment must fit the crime. We are also a forgiving nation.
This has the feel of "pardoning" one Thanksgiving turkey, so that we can continue eating the rest of them guilt-free. These pardons must not reduce the pressure to end all incarcerations not contributing to public safety.
4
As important as it is to see some folks get "a second chance," the sad reality is that most of these people will still have a history that follows them to every single job application, job interview, apartment/mortgage application, school enrollment, etc. The truth is that in America, once you've committed a crime, your sentence never ends. The first time one of these folks tries to apply for even a library card, they'll get booted from the system without explanation, and doors will slam. Until the day that it becomes possible to actually recover from such mistakes, having your sentence commuted or pardoned or even vacated means nothing.
19
If a person who sells heroin gets others, including kids, hooked on it, is he a non-violent offender? What if some of those users die? Or rob in order to buy drugs? Is the dealer still a non-violent offender?
20
But we don't jail sellers of alcohol or tobacco. And it's the drug prohibition that makes people "rob in order to buy drugs".
9
Siobhan - Of course he is. He is just an undocumented pharmacist!
So now we want to have accountability for the upstream causes of violence? Why is the guy selling heroin? Why doesn't he get an honest job? Maybe society won't let him get an honest job? Maybe there aren't enough jobs? Maybe the whole idea that most Americans are supposed to be content being two-dimensional extras in someone else's American dream is baloney?
The President's commendable, symbolic gesture underscores the fact that we have too many human beings in our federal and state prisons, serving sentences that are far too long and that cannot, for the most part, be justified by the crimes that most of them have committed. Add to this the sheer magnitude of what such sentences cost society, in wasted financial and human resources that could be far better applied to begin to solve a myriad of other social and economic problems, and the sentences and the prisons in which they are served approach the absurd. The time for true reform of our federal and state sentencing laws has come and endless debate is no answer. We should expect our political leaders to lead by example and to act now.
123
I think arguing the financial and economic impacts is the best way to convince some on the right that we need changes. Gotta win over hearts and minds, and since the GOP is relatively heartless, maybe we can appeal to their minds?
10
Or to their wallets which carry more weight than both their minds and hearts.
Mr Obama may not believe so but selling drugs is a violent act. If one were to sell arsenic and death resulted, then the seller would be considered a murderer. Selling heroin or cocaine is an act with consequences that can be as violent as the selling of any poison. Securities fraud, counterfeiting, kiting checks are non-violent crimes - selling drugs is not.
16
The president has an extensive track record of being disingenuous and un-candid. Selling drugs is against the law. Being an intermediary selling crack cocaine to children and adults in South Chicago or LA should have accountability. If the sentences were not commensurate with the crime reduce the sentences, not blanket commutation. Looks like, smells like politics.
2
How about possession? People are incarcerated for just that and under some State laws are sentenced to life for that. On the other hand, financial crimes that ruin the lives of millions may seem "non-violent" but they inflict far more damage, and it is clear that no one is prosecuting them anyway. I would swap Wall Street bankers for people sentenced for possession of small amounts of marijuana in prison any day.
1
Thats exactly what he did, he reduced the sentences. They are now time served. Looks like, smells like compassion.
3
ALL drug sentences of this kind - totally disproportionate with the social costs of the infractions should be pardoned. A legacy of an irrational, destructive abd ineffective war on drugs get tough with crime nonsense, which damaged our nation, destryed an entire class of black and latino men, and solved nothing but to increase the violence and the profits of dealers. Billions thrown into an irrational puritanical obsession with drugs, when the worst people - the Wall Street thugs who stole trillions and impovershed all but the 3% walked away with total impunity.
81
Good. The Rockefeller Laws have done incalculable harm. This at least is some balm for the open wound.
17
Not quite these laws also included predicate felony mandatory time and YHAT put a lot of people in jail
as for ;'life for pushers' this is over rated, and these are multiple or repeat offenders no one goes to jail for light weight offenses
as for ;'life for pushers' this is over rated, and these are multiple or repeat offenders no one goes to jail for light weight offenses
What about those prisoner's incarcerated for marijuana rather than for heroin or crack cocaine? Shouldn't they be granted pardons? Marijuana has been legalized in 2 states with no adverse effects. There sentences for a harmless herb, rather than a white powder, was even more immoral and should be commuted.
35
There are a lot more than 89 nonviolent, federal drug offenders. Choosing some and leaving others is as unjust as the harsh sentences. At least give the others immediate parole. The same should apply to states, especially Texas which has a record of ruining people's lives with harsh sentences from which they can never lead a normal life after the paid their debt to society.
16
of course Mr Obama frees some and he is criticized
btw, mr O has jurisdiction only over federal prisoners, unless we decide 'States' don't exist, that will be John Roberts' next Magic Constitution 'inartfully' crafted
'scrivener's error' anyone?
'freedom' was a misreading of the hand-written fiefdom
and of course we had the Declaration of Co-dependence ( Some read that as Decl Inter-dependence, a then-code word for diversity and anit=inequality
btw, mr O has jurisdiction only over federal prisoners, unless we decide 'States' don't exist, that will be John Roberts' next Magic Constitution 'inartfully' crafted
'scrivener's error' anyone?
'freedom' was a misreading of the hand-written fiefdom
and of course we had the Declaration of Co-dependence ( Some read that as Decl Inter-dependence, a then-code word for diversity and anit=inequality
Thank you Mr. Cole, for setting this into motion and trying to see to it that a travesty of justice is corrected.
7
Unless you're selling copious amounts of drugs, you should not waste away in a prison cell. Rather, a person with an addiction (see: heroin, meth, cocaine, opiates, not MJ) should seek and receive substance abuse treatment and maybe speak with a psychiatrist to discuss personal issues/why they use. That is what the gigantic fail of "The War on Drugs" should have been about in the first place.
69
The US and the world should follow Portugal's drug policies.
What a hypocrite. Let us not forget that Attorney General Holder--the president's man for top law enforcement officer of the US--jailed thousands of minor marijuana offenders for many years after the election of 2008. So now the president releases less than 50 people and wants to bask in his
supposed enlightened humanism.
Obama has been instrumental in jailing thousands of young minority men, so give me a break.
supposed enlightened humanism.
Obama has been instrumental in jailing thousands of young minority men, so give me a break.
5
I'm just curious, what does "nonviolent" mean in the context of these offenders? Like if I run a drug operation out of my house, destroy my neighborhood and sell drugs to kids, etc., but I have never physically assaulted or killed anyone, I am a "nonviolent offender"?
60
Yes; this constitutes non-violent conduct. Any violence associated with drug activity usually results from the steady stream of firearms pouring into our streets--which federal lawmakers have done little if anything to control. And from the "demand" side of the problem. Eliminate the gun violence and demand and the suppliers will move on. But long prison terms are not the answer.
what a silly premise to pose. Nelson Rockefeller back in the 70s got tough on drugs and had up to life sentences for offenders caught with more than 2 ounces. The presumption was the offender planned to sell and not have for personal use.
You run a meth operation out of your home, destroy your neighborhood and the children that live there - you deserve to be imprisioned and for a long time.
If you had a nickel bag of MJ then, it was the 'big house' - a nickel bag now, your situation in evaluated on its own facts. The 'book' is thrown now at the people who deserve it.
You run a meth operation out of your home, destroy your neighborhood and the children that live there - you deserve to be imprisioned and for a long time.
If you had a nickel bag of MJ then, it was the 'big house' - a nickel bag now, your situation in evaluated on its own facts. The 'book' is thrown now at the people who deserve it.
1
Ha ha, right, like the hippie pushing LSD at the Dead shows -- destroying neighborhoods left and right. Taking adult men out of neighborhoods and depriving children of their parents is much more destructive in the long term -- it is why this cycle seems to never end.
1
So happy that this is being done. The tragedy of people languishing in jail for decades based on laws that did not serve or society, or that were based on baseball (three strikes and you're out) has needed correction for years.
So on a human basis, this is wonderful.
And on a fiscal level, this will save millions which should be immediately used to improve rehabilitation for prisoners. Which will generate more money for us, as these prisoners enter society with useful skills, and begin paying taxes.
So much more efficient than the Republican solution, cut of health care, so people become too sick to work, and end up on medicaid for life.
So on a human basis, this is wonderful.
And on a fiscal level, this will save millions which should be immediately used to improve rehabilitation for prisoners. Which will generate more money for us, as these prisoners enter society with useful skills, and begin paying taxes.
So much more efficient than the Republican solution, cut of health care, so people become too sick to work, and end up on medicaid for life.
53
The president is setting a benchmark for compassion and redress of evils in a badly-tilted system of justice which stresses punishment rather than prevention. Here's wishing that those singled out by President Obama for new beginnings will repay his generosity by dedicating their freedom to honorable service. That well will never run dry. Thank you, Mr. President.
186
This comment, and so many others on this board, are so refreshing. I was just on AOL, reading comments from a similar article, and whew... night and day. I guess education and logic go hand in hand. The magnitude of racist, ignorant views expressed on AOL had me thinking that those views were across the board. Thank you NY Times readers. Even when viewpoints are dissimilar, the conversation seems like healthy debate
3
Twenty years or LIFE for a non-violent crime! At least ten years already served! Such a pity that these people were sent away for such awful terms in the first place. And who were these sanctimonious and viscous people who demanded that they pay such a hideous price? Now that this gross miscarriage of justice has been formally recognized -- and by so many people, I wonder how will they pay their price? Will they even come forward say that they are sorry?
117
Now if only those people could be guaranteed employment. Otherwise, this deed is all for show, with very little meaningful content.
14
How about "guaranteeing employment" for those who never broke any laws.
I applaud this, and revision of the US sentencing commission. I have seen this with my own eyes after the crime bill during the Clinton administration. I was a guest of the US Bureau of prisons when enacted and there were many doing long sentences for what now is considered minor drug offenses.
I just have to add most were Hispanic and Black.
I just have to add most were Hispanic and Black.
55
"I just have to add most were Hispanic and Black"
Could that be because they are the ones most likely to be selling the drugs? Or, is the President being racially selective?
Could that be because they are the ones most likely to be selling the drugs? Or, is the President being racially selective?
"Could that be because they are the ones most likely to be selling the drugs?"
You can find the answer if you really cared. It seems you just want to race bait, though.
You can find the answer if you really cared. It seems you just want to race bait, though.
1
I don't know the details of each case, but I fully agree with President Obama on principle: non-violent offenders should NOT be in prison with rapists, murderers, and armed robbers, they should ALL be doing community service work or under house arrest. Now, Mr. President, let's get in the 21st Century and legalize marijuana! And allow heroin addicts to get H under a doctor's supervision so they can taper off with gradually-reduced daily doses, not have to sell their bodies on the streets for their daily fix of poor quality heroin cut with poison which kills people! Methadone is NOT the correct answer to heroin addiction, the rehab programs do NOT work, and methadone is WORSE for health than heroin. It is only the selfish greed of the large pharmaceutical firms and liquor industry that is keeping Marijuana and heroin illegal. Congress needs to wake up and smell the coffee and quit whoring out to Big Pharma!
33
The answer to heroin addiction is not to shoot up to start with. The emphasis should be on a description of the abyss one has to climb out of when one falls prey.
If you don't become a junkie, all the rest is a cakewalk.
If you don't become a junkie, all the rest is a cakewalk.
2
Excellent.
46 down; 20,000 to go.
46 down; 20,000 to go.
112
Ok - that depressed me a little :(
1
...add another zero, then give O some credit. Another example of O punching way below his weight.
1
What support will they receive to ensure they will not revert to their old ways? You can't solve the problem just by freeing them. No doubt a lot of them will end up back in jail but receiving lighter sentences this time because of Obama's benevolent policies.
1
"Old Ways?" That sounds like you think there are people types; GOOD or BAD.
People, including me and you, are capable of both and all of us are neither. We choose and learn and choices are mostly a result of circumstance - don't you think?
People, including me and you, are capable of both and all of us are neither. We choose and learn and choices are mostly a result of circumstance - don't you think?
9
You miss the point -- none of them should ever have been arrested, tried, convicted, or incarcerated.
Prisons are a for-profit business, and all of us -- inmates and the rest of us -- are paying for it.
Prisons are a for-profit business, and all of us -- inmates and the rest of us -- are paying for it.
8
JBHoren - "You miss the point -- none of them should ever have been arrested, tried, convicted, or incarcerated."
So it is your opinion that no one should be arrested, tried, convicted or incarcerated for violating any law you don't believe in? Interesting indeed!
So it is your opinion that no one should be arrested, tried, convicted or incarcerated for violating any law you don't believe in? Interesting indeed!
1
The moral right is correcting great wrongs
39
Three cheers for my pres. who is doing the job of addressing this onerous problem when no one else ever has or, because we have a pack of gutless wonders, ever will.
Here's 3 more cheers....just because
Here's 3 more cheers....just because
100
This is fabulous. And there are thousands more!
33
I am of mixed feelings about this. I do believe that drug use should be completely decriminalized, but I also believe that these individuals were aware of the fact that they were committing a crime and therefore chose to risk the sentences they received to gain whatever benefits their actions got them.
On the balance, I believe that as a nation of laws, persons who break the law should not get sentence reduction unless errors in the trial procedures can be shown, in order to remain a nation of laws, not one of rulers by dictate.
On the balance, I believe that as a nation of laws, persons who break the law should not get sentence reduction unless errors in the trial procedures can be shown, in order to remain a nation of laws, not one of rulers by dictate.
19
Pardons and commutations are just as much part of the law as criminal trials and sentences are. The powers of the President are enumerated in Article 2 of the Constitution, including this:
"He shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment."
The authors of the Constitution gave the President this power because they wanted him to use it. President Obama has done as the Constitutional authors wished.
politicsbyeccehomo.wordpress.com
"He shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment."
The authors of the Constitution gave the President this power because they wanted him to use it. President Obama has done as the Constitutional authors wished.
politicsbyeccehomo.wordpress.com
47
you are missing the whole point.
It's the onerous prevailing laws of back-in-the-day that they are malingering jail for.
It's the onerous prevailing laws of back-in-the-day that they are malingering jail for.
11
Agree. More should be given parole rather than clemency so they can be tracked to make sure they don't get involved with the drugs that sent them to prison. It's an additional incentive for them to keep out of jail.
2
Not bad for a Republican, but the elephant in the room remains, there are tens or hundreds of thousands of humans in our jails for no good reason: our drug laws are stupid, and in my view a crime against humanity.
92
Godspeed indeed. Congratulations to these men and women!
31
Second, our local paper had a story about drug dealers who were claiming addiction in order to get placed in a diversion/rehabilitation program instead of going to prison. Their drug dealing continued. So some attempts to reduce the prison population may backfire and benefit those who really should be going to prison.