President Obama Has Now Commuted the Sentences of 348 Individuals (06-03-16)

Summary:
Underscoring his commitment to reforming our criminal justice system, the President has commuted the sentences of more individuals than the past 7 presidents combined.



Today, the President announced 42 additional grants of clemency to men and women serving years in prison under outdated and unduly harsh sentencing laws. The individuals receiving a presidential commutation today have more than repaid their debt to society and earned this second chance.

To date, the President has commuted the sentences of 348 individuals -- more than the previous seven Presidents combined. He remains committed to using his clemency power throughout the remainder of the Administration to give more deserving individuals that same second chance.

As the President has said, part of this effort includes lifting up the stories of the men and women who have been granted clemency and are now making the most of their second chances. Watch the stories of Norman Brown, Ramona Brant, and Phillip Emmert, three clemency recipients who served unduly harsh sentences for drug crimes.

Despite these important efforts, only legislation can bring about lasting change to the federal system. There remain thousands of men and women in federal prison serving sentences longer than necessary, often due to overly harsh mandatory minimum sentences. That is one reason it is critical that both the House and the Senate continue to cooperate on a bipartisan basis to get a criminal justice reform bill to the President's desk..

President Obama: A Nation of Second Chances

On May 5, 2016, President Obama announced 58 new grants of clemency and wrote about how reinvigorating our commutations process is part of a larger effort to reform our criminal justice system:

"Earlier this spring, I met with a group of individuals whose sentences were commuted either by President Bush, President Clinton, or myself. They were all at different stages of a new chapter in their lives, but each of their stories was extraordinary.

"Take Phillip Emmert. When he was 27, Phillip made a mistake. He was arrested and convicted for distributing methamphetamines and received a 27-year sentence. So, by the time he was released, he’d have spent half his life behind bars.

"Unfortunately, while in prison, his wife was paralyzed in an accident. So while he was in prison, Phil learned everything he could about fixing heating and air conditioning systems — so he could support his wife when he got out. And after his sentence was commuted by President Bush, he was able to do just that. Today, he’s gainfully employed. He’s a caregiver for his wife, an active father, and a leader in his community.

"Like so many nonviolent offenders serving unduly harsh sentences, Phillip is not a hardened criminal.
He’s taken responsibility for his mistakes. And he’s worked hard to earn a second chance.


"Today, I commuted the sentences of an additional 58 individuals just as deserving as Phillip — individuals who can look to him as inspiration for what is possible in their lives.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2016/03/30/president-obama-has-now-commuted-sentences-348-individuals/
* Video & Previous White House Commuted /Clemency Blogs*

http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/commutation-sentence.html/

You didn't check where he stands so far in the list of Presidents who have pardoned or commuted the sentences of convicted criminals.

Ronald Reagan for one, still has him beat.

So the statement that Obama has commuted or pardoned more people than the last seven Presidents combined, is a flat out lie.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_pardoned_or_granted_clemency_by_the_President_of_the_United_States

Presidential pardons are granted on an individual basis...as long as pardons aren't granted to everyone convicted of a certain crime I see no problem.

Convicted criminals are individuals and should be treated accordingly, both when sentenced and when pardons are granted.

During my lifetime, for what little it's worth:


Eisenhower: 1157 First Runner Up!

Kennedy: 575

Johnson: 1187 WINNER!

Nixon: 926 Third Place!

Ford: 409

Carter: 566

Reagan: 406

H.W. Bush: 77

Clinton: 459

W. Bush: 200

Obama: (348) so far.


By Party:

Republicans: 3175

Democrats: 3135

Pretty much neck and neck between the parties.

If I counted right, there were 36 years of Republicans, and 28 years of Democrats.

Obama is both a traitor and a fool. Americans of all colors are worse off for having him in office. If you commit the crime you should do the time.

It is The White House Statement.
The number of COMMUTED Sentences is in the article & on The White House link.. The pic would not copy to post it.

If it is s lie. They sure are bragging about it

I wasn't accusing YOU of lying, sassy.
I didn't stumble across a list by commutations alone in my very quick search. If pardons are excluded, the statement might be true.

Just FYI, this is an example of a non sequitur argument. The first sentence (unproven) has nothing at all to do with the second one.

Anyway, if you chance to be the kind who thinks no one should ever be pardoned, or had sentences commuted, that's fine. Just realize (see my list) that you currently despise Republican Presidents more than Democrats on that narrow basis.

Of course, Obama has time to catch the Dems total up.

---------------------------------------------------
It is not talking about Pardons.
Legally, all these are distinguishable
So he is changing & minimizing crimes of the convicted... Again.

Full Definition of clemency

plural clemencies

1
a : disposition to be merciful and especially to moderate the severity of punishment due b : an act or instance of leniency

2
: pleasant mildness of weather
--------------
commute
[kuh-myoot]
verb (used with object), commuted, commuting.
1.
to change (a prison sentence or other penalty) to a less severe one:
The death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.
----------------
pardon
[pahr-dn]
noun
1.
kind indulgence, as in forgiveness of an offense or discourtesy or in tolerance of a distraction or inconvenience:
I beg your pardon, but which way is Spruce Street?
2.
Law.

a release from the penalty of an offense; a remission of penalty, as by a governor.
the document by which such remission is declared.

Something else to take into account or consider, for those who do really want to make this into a test of justice or whatever, is that the time periods are unique to each President.

That is, there are reasons why each President did what he did, and those reasons were not the same for each case.

Laws change over time as well. Some people have been urging Obama or the next President, to recognize the change in Marijuana laws going on now, by commuting or pardoning all the people sent up for Federal crimes related to that drug.

I'm not taking sides on that myself, I'm not a pro-intoxication kind of person. But the point is, that trying to compare Presidents, isn't a simple matter of the number of actions. To do it right, you have to compare in detail, by crime, and by reasoning.

and by Obama FIAT!
Face it,he is a Never-Waser,and always will be!

I think you are confused. Fiat owns Chrysler, not Obama.

IMO most sentences should be commuted.

Have you ever sat through a few sessions of drug courts?
"Guilty!: weed, weed, weed, weed, weed, DUI, weed, weed, weed, DUI, coke, weed, weed, weed, heroin, weed, weed, weed, weed, weed with speed sprinkled in the joint unknown to smoker, weed, weed, DUI, DUI, weed, weed, weed, meth, meth, meth, weed and meth, weed, weed, coke, weed...okay, hour 2 now....weed, weed, weed, speed, DUI, weed, coke, weed, meth, weed..." all freaking day, with most amounts being juuuuuust this side of the governments enforcement give a crap meter.


More like "President Obama: hasn't don't all that much to deal with the corrupt big business prison monopoly system, outdated laws, and laws that can't keep up with technology, mostly because it would take the focus of an entire 8 year term fighting with congress to get even the most minimal change passed as every single argument would ultimately be 'all criminals are the same whether you sell a joint or shoot up a mall, they endanger children. Decriminalizing empowers criminals and kills police jobs! And children!'"

I think it is you who are confused!

From Latin FIAT (“let it be done”).

"Decriminalizing empowers criminals"

And that is ALL it does.

well,in that case it would be by Presidential FART?

""BATON ROUGE - Family of a man who recently had his sentence commuted by the president have confirmed to News 2 that he is the surviving victim of a shooting on North Foster Drive in Baton Rouge Saturday.
Boo Milton's father told The Investigative Unit his son was shot in the arm and taken to the hospital following the shooting at Q's Auto Sales.
Milton was in the news in March when President Barack Obama commuted his sentence. Boo, Advocate archives show, ran one of the city's first crack cocaine operations .
Milton was believed to be the ringleader of the operation that supplied drugs to other drug distributors in Baton Rouge between 1992 and 1996. By 1996, though, prosecutors had locked up 18 people associated with the organization. Milton surrendered in August 1996 and was sentenced to 50 years in prison. When his sentence was commuted in March, he was at a federal prison in Talladega, Alabama.""
http://www.wbrz.com/news/family-shooting-victim-recently-had-sentence-commuted-by-president-obama/

Thanks Obama! ,

So let's sum this up.

The President COMMUTED his sentence (when he was a drug King pin/ FELON
. He gets out, & some garage hires him, (despite his criminal history... as if the garage itself isn't shady to do so, or in the first place), he gets shot, (within 8 weeks of his release), & the cops have no idea...why?.

So does the shooter/FELON, get a second chance too?