Christopher Zoukis's Blog - Posts Tagged "commutation"
President’s Commutations Total Rises to 348; Has Sentencing Reform Stalled?
On June 3, President Obama commuted sentences for 42 more federal inmates, bringing his total to 348 individuals to have their prison sentences reduced or ended. A statement from White House counsel Neil Eggleston noted the total outstrips commutations issued by the past seven presidents combined. The last three months brought close to half – 161 -- of Obama’s total commutations, with 61 announced in March and 58 in May, on top of the latest round.
According to White House-released background information on inmates in the latest round of commutations, 20, or almost half, had been sentenced to prison for life, most for possessing or distributing crack or powder cocaine. Including the latest round, Obama has commuted life sentences for 130 federal inmates. The inmates with new commutations now have release dates ranging from the start of October through next June.
Eggleston’s statement also said those receiving commutations were serving prison time under laws with “outdated and unduly harsh” sentencing rules, and added President Obama “remains committed” to continuing to use his commutation powers through the rest of his term to help others who have earned a second chance by repaying their debt to society. Instead of issuing individual commutations, some sentencing reform advocates want him to reduce sentenced for classes of inmates, such as those sentenced for crack cocaine offenses before Congress acted to reduce those penalties.
Arguing that legislation is needed to address federal laws which impose unduly harsh minimum sentences on “thousands” of federal prisoners who as a result longer than needed sentences, the White House statement also pushed for bipartisan Congressional action to send a criminal justice reform bill to the president’s desk.
A sentencing reform bill (S. 2123) cleared by the Senate Judiciary Committee last October would reduce mandatory sentences for federal drug crimes, give judges more discretion in crafting sentences, and even make some of those changes retroactive. As recently as late April, a bipartisan group of members of the Senate Judiciary Committee announced support for a revised version of the bill.
There is significant support for the measure from some, but far from all of the Republicans controlling the Senate – conservatives like Charles Grassley (IA) and John Cornyn (TX) have supported it, while Ted Cruz (TX), Jeff Sessions (AL) and Tom Cotton (AR) have strongly opposed it.
Proponents have urged Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (KY) to bring the bill up on the Senate floor, pointing to it as not only useful reforms, but also potentially one of the few measures that might gain enough bipartisan support to pass the sharply divided chamber in an election year. So far, he’s made no commitment the measure will be brought up in the few remaining months Congress will be in session.
In the House of Representatives, several limited measures have cleared the floor, but House Judiciary Committee chairman Robert Goodlatte (VA) says the chamber won’t act on a broad sentencing reform bill unless it adds a provision, strongly opposed by House Democrats, to mandate intent as part of the definition for most crimes. Even without that complication, the dwindling legislative calendar and sharp partisan divisions threaten to keep sentencing reform from seeing House floor action this year.
According to White House-released background information on inmates in the latest round of commutations, 20, or almost half, had been sentenced to prison for life, most for possessing or distributing crack or powder cocaine. Including the latest round, Obama has commuted life sentences for 130 federal inmates. The inmates with new commutations now have release dates ranging from the start of October through next June.
Eggleston’s statement also said those receiving commutations were serving prison time under laws with “outdated and unduly harsh” sentencing rules, and added President Obama “remains committed” to continuing to use his commutation powers through the rest of his term to help others who have earned a second chance by repaying their debt to society. Instead of issuing individual commutations, some sentencing reform advocates want him to reduce sentenced for classes of inmates, such as those sentenced for crack cocaine offenses before Congress acted to reduce those penalties.
Arguing that legislation is needed to address federal laws which impose unduly harsh minimum sentences on “thousands” of federal prisoners who as a result longer than needed sentences, the White House statement also pushed for bipartisan Congressional action to send a criminal justice reform bill to the president’s desk.
A sentencing reform bill (S. 2123) cleared by the Senate Judiciary Committee last October would reduce mandatory sentences for federal drug crimes, give judges more discretion in crafting sentences, and even make some of those changes retroactive. As recently as late April, a bipartisan group of members of the Senate Judiciary Committee announced support for a revised version of the bill.
There is significant support for the measure from some, but far from all of the Republicans controlling the Senate – conservatives like Charles Grassley (IA) and John Cornyn (TX) have supported it, while Ted Cruz (TX), Jeff Sessions (AL) and Tom Cotton (AR) have strongly opposed it.
Proponents have urged Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (KY) to bring the bill up on the Senate floor, pointing to it as not only useful reforms, but also potentially one of the few measures that might gain enough bipartisan support to pass the sharply divided chamber in an election year. So far, he’s made no commitment the measure will be brought up in the few remaining months Congress will be in session.
In the House of Representatives, several limited measures have cleared the floor, but House Judiciary Committee chairman Robert Goodlatte (VA) says the chamber won’t act on a broad sentencing reform bill unless it adds a provision, strongly opposed by House Democrats, to mandate intent as part of the definition for most crimes. Even without that complication, the dwindling legislative calendar and sharp partisan divisions threaten to keep sentencing reform from seeing House floor action this year.
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.
