Christopher Zoukis's Blog - Posts Tagged "clemency"
President Obama’s Commutation Pen Stays Busy
Last week, President Obama issued his fourth batch this year of commutation orders for federal prisoners last week, releasing or reducing sentences for another 214 inmates. This booststotal commutations since he took office to 562.
The White House also announced on Aug. 3 that Obama’s commutations now exceed the combined total for his nine most recent Oval Office predecessors (John F. Kennedy through George W. Bush).
A blog entry by White House counsel to the president Neil Eggleston noted the August commutations represented the largest action of its type in a single day since at least the year 1900, and included 67 inmates serving life sentences (bringing that total to 179).
As Eggleston also observed, since the Clemency Initiative grants require individual review by the Department of Justice and the President, they may provide individualized relief or contain personalized conditions. So, some commutation grants will free inmates in the months ahead, while others will not bring release, but instead reduce sentences by years, and others are conditioned on the inmate seeking drug rehab treatment.
Eggleston’s commentary also notes he expects President Obama in his remaining months in office will continue issuing clemency grants “in a historic and inspiring fashion.” Some clemency advocates have urged the president to adopt even broader measures, such as granting blanket rather than individualized relief to categories of inmates, such as those convicted before a change in sentencing law for crack cocaine offenses reduced prison terms for those convicted in 1990 or later, without retroactively reducing sentences of those convicted earlier.
The White House counsel’s blog entry also renewed the administration’s call for Congress to clear a criminal justice reform law for the president to sign, since legislative change is needed to achieve fundamental change in criminal penalties. Even if legislators decide to turn to that topic after the end of their summer recess, Congress’ need to concentrate on finishing work on government funding measures, the short pre-election legislative calendar, and significant disagreements over numerous provisions year are likely to dim hopes for major action on criminal justice reform this year.
Some optimists hope that it might be dealt with during a post-election lame-duck session, but this scenario seems to have at best a remote chance.
Over two years ago, the administration announced a clemency initiative designed to provide relief for federal prisoners serving lengthy sentences for non-violent crimes, particularly those for which sentences were reduced after those prisoners were sentenced.
The Department of Justice officially launched Clemency Initiative 2014 on April 23 of that year, with the assistance of volunteers from law firms and five non-profit groups, inviting clemency petitions from inmates meeting the program’s exacting eligibility standards: at least 10 years already served, a sentence which subsequent law changes would likely mean significantly shorter time today, good conduct while incarcerated, low-level and non-violent offenses, and no previous serious convictions or ties to gangs or drug cartels.
The Department of Justice has not announced precisely how many clemency petitions it received by the October 19, 2015 deadline for submissions, but by this June, it had taken in at least 34,000, had rejected about 25,000 and was still working on about 10,000.
The White House also announced on Aug. 3 that Obama’s commutations now exceed the combined total for his nine most recent Oval Office predecessors (John F. Kennedy through George W. Bush).
A blog entry by White House counsel to the president Neil Eggleston noted the August commutations represented the largest action of its type in a single day since at least the year 1900, and included 67 inmates serving life sentences (bringing that total to 179).
As Eggleston also observed, since the Clemency Initiative grants require individual review by the Department of Justice and the President, they may provide individualized relief or contain personalized conditions. So, some commutation grants will free inmates in the months ahead, while others will not bring release, but instead reduce sentences by years, and others are conditioned on the inmate seeking drug rehab treatment.
Eggleston’s commentary also notes he expects President Obama in his remaining months in office will continue issuing clemency grants “in a historic and inspiring fashion.” Some clemency advocates have urged the president to adopt even broader measures, such as granting blanket rather than individualized relief to categories of inmates, such as those convicted before a change in sentencing law for crack cocaine offenses reduced prison terms for those convicted in 1990 or later, without retroactively reducing sentences of those convicted earlier.
The White House counsel’s blog entry also renewed the administration’s call for Congress to clear a criminal justice reform law for the president to sign, since legislative change is needed to achieve fundamental change in criminal penalties. Even if legislators decide to turn to that topic after the end of their summer recess, Congress’ need to concentrate on finishing work on government funding measures, the short pre-election legislative calendar, and significant disagreements over numerous provisions year are likely to dim hopes for major action on criminal justice reform this year.
Some optimists hope that it might be dealt with during a post-election lame-duck session, but this scenario seems to have at best a remote chance.
Over two years ago, the administration announced a clemency initiative designed to provide relief for federal prisoners serving lengthy sentences for non-violent crimes, particularly those for which sentences were reduced after those prisoners were sentenced.
The Department of Justice officially launched Clemency Initiative 2014 on April 23 of that year, with the assistance of volunteers from law firms and five non-profit groups, inviting clemency petitions from inmates meeting the program’s exacting eligibility standards: at least 10 years already served, a sentence which subsequent law changes would likely mean significantly shorter time today, good conduct while incarcerated, low-level and non-violent offenses, and no previous serious convictions or ties to gangs or drug cartels.
The Department of Justice has not announced precisely how many clemency petitions it received by the October 19, 2015 deadline for submissions, but by this June, it had taken in at least 34,000, had rejected about 25,000 and was still working on about 10,000.
What Will Happen to the Clemency Movement in the Trump Administration?
Rather than slackening off as the Obama administration nears its final days, the clemency initiative announced in April 2014 for federal prisoners is picking up speed. From the Oct. 1 start of the current fiscal year until two days before Election Day, the president had issued 272 sentence commutations — nearly one-third of its total up to that time.
On election eve, the sentences of 72 inmates were commuted, followed by 79 more Nov. 22, bringing the total for the Obama administration to 1,023, exceeding the combined total for commutations issued by all 11 presidents from Harry Truman through George W. Bush. Of Obama’s clemency grants, thus far 342 have gone to inmates serving life sentences, and most recipients were serving lengthy sentences for nonviolent, primarily drug-related, offenses.
But what will happen to the commutation movement after Trump’s inauguration?
During the presidential campaign, Donald Trump generally sounded a get-tougher line on criminal law, but had relatively little to say on Obama’s clemency program. What he did say, however, sparked fears among advocates of decriminalizing or reducing penalties for drug offenses, or adopting new approaches to incarceration. For example, at a town hall event in New Hampshire two days before that state’s primary election, Trump said the approximately 6,000 inmates released after the Obama administration revised some drug sentencing criteria in 2015 would soon “be back selling drugs.” More recently, at an August event in Florida, the GOP candidate described some of those released under the clemency program as “bad dudes,” before sarcastically telling his audience to “sleep tight, folks.”
Another troubling sign to advocates of criminal justice revisions – such as those in a now-apparently stalled bill introduced in Congress last year with substantial bipartisan support – was the president-elect’s announcement he would nominate Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions (R) as his Attorney General. Sessions has been a consistent proponent of strict drug penalties and an opponent of reducing mandatory minimum sentences.
Once in office, Trump cannot reverse clemency grants issued by Obama, but can, if he chooses, quickly reverse executive orders issued by his predecessor. In fact in several areas — such as executive orders for more lenient treatment of young persons not legally in this country, and their parents — Trump has explicitly promised he would do so. Some of the executive orders are already being halted by court orders. Obama administration executive actions taken through regulations, however, will likely have to go through a similar rulemaking process in order to be undone.
As for the clemency program, Obama’s White House counsel has said the president, even though a lame duck, will keep on granting clemencies in his final days in office. The Department of Justice official who announced the clemency program adds that the president is aware how deeply a clemency grant can improve the lives of not just inmates, but their families as well.
That is not enough, however, for some clemency advocates, who are publicly urging Obama to issue blanket clemency for whole classes of federal inmates – prominently, those who were already serving long sentences for crack cocaine offenses before 2010 — when Congress passed and Obama signed the Fair Sentencing Act, which brought penalties for crack more in line with those for powder cocaine, but was not retroactive.
On election eve, the sentences of 72 inmates were commuted, followed by 79 more Nov. 22, bringing the total for the Obama administration to 1,023, exceeding the combined total for commutations issued by all 11 presidents from Harry Truman through George W. Bush. Of Obama’s clemency grants, thus far 342 have gone to inmates serving life sentences, and most recipients were serving lengthy sentences for nonviolent, primarily drug-related, offenses.
But what will happen to the commutation movement after Trump’s inauguration?
During the presidential campaign, Donald Trump generally sounded a get-tougher line on criminal law, but had relatively little to say on Obama’s clemency program. What he did say, however, sparked fears among advocates of decriminalizing or reducing penalties for drug offenses, or adopting new approaches to incarceration. For example, at a town hall event in New Hampshire two days before that state’s primary election, Trump said the approximately 6,000 inmates released after the Obama administration revised some drug sentencing criteria in 2015 would soon “be back selling drugs.” More recently, at an August event in Florida, the GOP candidate described some of those released under the clemency program as “bad dudes,” before sarcastically telling his audience to “sleep tight, folks.”
Another troubling sign to advocates of criminal justice revisions – such as those in a now-apparently stalled bill introduced in Congress last year with substantial bipartisan support – was the president-elect’s announcement he would nominate Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions (R) as his Attorney General. Sessions has been a consistent proponent of strict drug penalties and an opponent of reducing mandatory minimum sentences.
Once in office, Trump cannot reverse clemency grants issued by Obama, but can, if he chooses, quickly reverse executive orders issued by his predecessor. In fact in several areas — such as executive orders for more lenient treatment of young persons not legally in this country, and their parents — Trump has explicitly promised he would do so. Some of the executive orders are already being halted by court orders. Obama administration executive actions taken through regulations, however, will likely have to go through a similar rulemaking process in order to be undone.
As for the clemency program, Obama’s White House counsel has said the president, even though a lame duck, will keep on granting clemencies in his final days in office. The Department of Justice official who announced the clemency program adds that the president is aware how deeply a clemency grant can improve the lives of not just inmates, but their families as well.
That is not enough, however, for some clemency advocates, who are publicly urging Obama to issue blanket clemency for whole classes of federal inmates – prominently, those who were already serving long sentences for crack cocaine offenses before 2010 — when Congress passed and Obama signed the Fair Sentencing Act, which brought penalties for crack more in line with those for powder cocaine, but was not retroactive.
Obama’s Clemency Totals: 1,715 Commutations, Including Secrets-Leaker Manning
With less than four days left in office, On Jan. 17 president Obama commuted nearly all of the 28 years remaining in the 35-year court-martial sentence of Chelsea Manning, the former army intelligence analyst who copied over 700,000 archived military and diplomatic files — some classified — and sent them to WikiLeaks. The reduction in Manning’s sentence was part of 273 commutations issued that day.
Also receiving a commutation of a lengthy sentence was Puerto Rican independence activist Oscar López Rivera, who was sentenced in the 1980s to 55 years for conspiracy, firearms and explosives offenses, and other violations connected to Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional (FALN) bombings in the ’70s and ’80s, plus another 15 years for a failed escape attempt.
Two days later, the White House announced the departing president’s final batch of 330 clemency actions, including 64 pardons, an area in which Obama lagged many of his predecessors. Receiving a pardon was former Joint Chiefs of Staff vice-chair Marine General James Cartwright, who was due to be sentenced soon on a guilty plea of lying to FBI investigators investigating leaks on covert U.S. efforts to impede Iran’s development of nuclear weapons.
The final batch of pardons did not include relief for some prominent inmates who had requested clemency, such as Illinois ex-governor Rod Blagojevich, now in his fourth year of a 14-year sentence on corruption charges, or Army deserter Bowe Bergdahl, facing trial this spring after being exchanged for five Taliban members, much less for other prominent figures who did not seek pardons for possible future charges, such as secrets-leaker Edward Snowden.
By the end of his two terms, Obama had commuted the sentences of 1,715 federal inmates, including 568 who were serving or facing life sentences. He also issued a total of 212 pardons. The total 1,927 clemency actions by Obama topped all presidents since Harry Truman, and his commutations exceeded the combined total for his 12 most recent predecessors.
The majority of clemency recipients were serving time for nonviolent drug offenses, on which Obama has focused his attention, especially over the past two years. But the greatest attention —and most controversy — centered on Obama’s order to cut short the record-length sentence that a military court handed down to former Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, setting Manning free May 17, rather than in 2045.
Shortly after enlisting in the army, Manning was assigned to Iraq to monitor movements of insurgent forces. Given access to intelligence archives, the 22-year-old private downloaded combat reports from Afghanistan and Iraq, including sensitive reports on abuses of detainees, then sent them to WikiLeaks. Convicted in 2013 in a military court of six counts of Espionage Act violations, though not on charges of aiding the enemy, Manning is currently confined in the military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
In pleading guilty to some charges, the ex-soldier – who enlisted as Bradley Edward Manning – spoke about the great psychological pressure of disguising her identity as a transgendered woman. The commutation was issued to Chelsea Elizabeth Manning, the name she legally adopted in 2014.
In his final news conference, Obama defended his order, saying Manning had “served a tough prison sentence… disproportionate” to those previously handed down for similar offenses.
Also receiving a commutation of a lengthy sentence was Puerto Rican independence activist Oscar López Rivera, who was sentenced in the 1980s to 55 years for conspiracy, firearms and explosives offenses, and other violations connected to Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional (FALN) bombings in the ’70s and ’80s, plus another 15 years for a failed escape attempt.
Two days later, the White House announced the departing president’s final batch of 330 clemency actions, including 64 pardons, an area in which Obama lagged many of his predecessors. Receiving a pardon was former Joint Chiefs of Staff vice-chair Marine General James Cartwright, who was due to be sentenced soon on a guilty plea of lying to FBI investigators investigating leaks on covert U.S. efforts to impede Iran’s development of nuclear weapons.
The final batch of pardons did not include relief for some prominent inmates who had requested clemency, such as Illinois ex-governor Rod Blagojevich, now in his fourth year of a 14-year sentence on corruption charges, or Army deserter Bowe Bergdahl, facing trial this spring after being exchanged for five Taliban members, much less for other prominent figures who did not seek pardons for possible future charges, such as secrets-leaker Edward Snowden.
By the end of his two terms, Obama had commuted the sentences of 1,715 federal inmates, including 568 who were serving or facing life sentences. He also issued a total of 212 pardons. The total 1,927 clemency actions by Obama topped all presidents since Harry Truman, and his commutations exceeded the combined total for his 12 most recent predecessors.
The majority of clemency recipients were serving time for nonviolent drug offenses, on which Obama has focused his attention, especially over the past two years. But the greatest attention —and most controversy — centered on Obama’s order to cut short the record-length sentence that a military court handed down to former Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, setting Manning free May 17, rather than in 2045.
Shortly after enlisting in the army, Manning was assigned to Iraq to monitor movements of insurgent forces. Given access to intelligence archives, the 22-year-old private downloaded combat reports from Afghanistan and Iraq, including sensitive reports on abuses of detainees, then sent them to WikiLeaks. Convicted in 2013 in a military court of six counts of Espionage Act violations, though not on charges of aiding the enemy, Manning is currently confined in the military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
In pleading guilty to some charges, the ex-soldier – who enlisted as Bradley Edward Manning – spoke about the great psychological pressure of disguising her identity as a transgendered woman. The commutation was issued to Chelsea Elizabeth Manning, the name she legally adopted in 2014.
In his final news conference, Obama defended his order, saying Manning had “served a tough prison sentence… disproportionate” to those previously handed down for similar offenses.
