Recently President Obama issued 95 commutations and 2 pardons. Most of these clemency grants were for drug-related offenses. Many of the crimes involved cocaine.
So far this year President Obama has granted clemency to 165 inmates. Part of the rise in clemency grants may be due to the President’s efforts to reduce the size of the prison population especially when it involves drug crimes. President Obama also mentioned the problem involving mandatory minimum sentences for drug cases.
As the President explained “We have to reconsider whether 20 year, 30 year, life sentences for non-violent crimes is the best way for us to solve…problems.”
