President Obama Just Commuted The Sentences Of 58 People. Here Are Their Names.

[Purveyor]

Source: Washington Post

President Obama commuted the sentences of 58 inmates Thursday as part of his ongoing initiative to release federal prisoners who have received severe mandatory sentences for non-violent drug offenses.

With this latest round of commutations, Obama has granted clemency to a total 306 inmates, 110 of whom were serving life sentences. Obama has said he will continue granting commutations during his final months in office to inmates who meet certain criteria set out by the Justice Department.

Of the inmates granted clemency Thursday, 18 had been sentenced to life without parole. One was Fulton “Wash” Washington, of Compton, California, who was convicted on PCP charges. At his sentencing, the judge lamented that harsh mandatory minimum sentences were not meant for offenders like Washington, but he had not choice. His daughter, who is 31, was 10 years old when Washington was sent to prison for the rest of his life.

“I was able to tell both Wash and his daughter today that he is coming home.,” said attorney James E. Felman. “His daughter just broke down and started screaming and crying with hysteria. It’s just unbelievable. I’m still in tears.”

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/05/05/here-are-the-58-people-whose-sentences-president-obama-just-commuted/

[Jackie Wilson Said]

1. 3 strikes are meant to keep POC in prison so they cant vote or pollute the environs of the

"good" people.


I didnt think I needed this

[scscholar]

8. Dog whistle!

Dog whistle!

[Jackie Wilson Said]

9. sigh

[closeupready]

3. In contrast to this:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3706812

Obama really is, in his heart, a compassionate guy. K&R

[drm604]

5. It's hard to argue otherwise.

What, other than compassion, would lead him to do this?

[Chakab]

7. If he's so fucking compassionate, why has he granted clemency more rarely than any modern President,

and why did he deport more people than every President in the 20th century combined?

https://www.propublica.org/article/obama-has-granted-clemency-more-rarely-than-any-modern-president

http://fusion.net/story/252637/obama-has-deported-more-immigrants-than-any-other-president-now-hes-running-up-the-score/

[maxsolomon]

11. Bipartisanship?

Trying not to rile 'em too much so shit can get done. Didn't work, of course, because they're crazy.

He does what is politically inevitable when he feels it is advantageous. He's a politician.

[Chakab]

12. If they can never be appeased, then what the fuck is the point of constantly trying to pander

to them?

Half the country still thinks that he's been "soft on illegals" in spite of the fact that he's deported undocumented immigrants in record numbers, even for trivial reasons.

Sorry, but consistently shitting on your base and governing in the opposite direction of what you've campaigned on without anything to show for it is terrible politics.

Any Republican POTUS with the same record as Obama on the aforementioned issues would never be called "compassionate" on this forum. They'd be savaged for their record 24/7.

[maxsolomon]

14. Yeah, Obama never stops reaching out

I told him not to bother, but he didn't listen.

[Chakab]

15. If he's still acting in this manner in the eighth year of his Presidency, it's

clearly not about "reaching out." He actually believes this shit.

The guy isn't the least bit "progressive" or "compassionate."

[maxsolomon]

17. OK, don't vote for him again, then

He's cool in other ways - like at Science Fairs.

[SammyWinstonJack]

20. +1000000

[Redwoods Red]

22. Your information is outdated. Obama has granted more commutations than any president.

https://www.justice.gov/pardon/clemency-statistics

[Hekate]

29. Thanks for the update. Just don't expect...

...the perpetually outraged at all things Democratic and/or Obama to acknowledge.

[mountain grammy]

34. Thanks

Was just looking for that article.

[Sunlei]

46. once an undocumented is convicted of a crime, they're now deported from jail. thats why numbers are

higher.

[rhett o rick]

47. Yes but he lets Gov Steigelman rot in prison while 50 states atty gen

agree he was unjustly imprisoned. No compassion there.

[Redwoods Red]

4. Good on Obama, but there are thousands more who are eligible for commutations.

A couple of years ago, Holder urged drug war prisoners to seek commutations, and thousands have done so, but there seem to be bottlenecks in the Office of the Pardon Attorney. I hope they get that fixed.

[drm604]

6. Let's hope that the next President continues to do this.

Hopefully the backlog can eventually be cleared out. I just wish that there was a way to push the states to do something similar.

[riderinthestorm]

25. Bernie Sanders has vowed to do this, reduce incarceration by 500k in 1st term

By releasing the estimated 120k federal non-violent drug offenders, stopping the war on drugs and legalizing MJ amongst other actions.

[jwirr]

10. What is the process a family needs to go through to ask for

commutations?

[Redwoods Red]

19. Here you go:

https://www.justice.gov/pardon/commutation-instructions

[IronLionZion]

28. Everything has to start somewhere

[NBachers]

13. Don Siegelman

[Chakab]

16. Can't touch that one. We wouldn't want any nasty partisanship to besmirch

the President's "brand."

[maxsolomon]

18. I'm holding out hope that it's coming after the election

should have come after his re-election though.

Maybe Obama thinks we have a chance to flip Alabama?

[ReRe]

27. I'm hoping for a huge Christmas gift along these lines from PO. eom ;-)

[Reter]

41. Hitler wouldn't make them flip it to us

Trump wins by 20 there.

[JDPriestly]

33. My first thought. Why isn't Don Siegelman on the list?

[AmBlue]

43. Hell YES, what about Don?

My thought as well.

[yurbud]

48. he must have pissed off someone VERY rich...

[kacekwl]

37. Really Mr. President , what's the hold up

with Don ?

[Doctor_J]

44. Psssh. Like the president would take on Rove

[blondie58]

21. So disappointed he didn't include

Son Siegelman.

[chervilant]

23. Why isn't Siegelman on that list?!? SMDH n/t

[chknltl]

30. +1 Why? nt

[OldRedneck]

24. Why . . .

Why is former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman not on this list?

He was framed by Karl Rove and a Bush-appointed US attorney.

Free Don Siegelman!!!!

http://legalschnauzer.blogspot.com/2016/05/former-alabama-gov-don-siegelman-is.html

[tymorial]

26. Love it

[chknltl]

31. NO DON SIEGELMAN???!!!

WTF!

[ladjf]

36. That was my first thought.

It was bad enough that Siegelman was not pardoned at the beginning of Obama's term. But it's far worse that he was not Pardoned at the end of the term.

[NorthCarolina]

32. I predict one of his final Presidential acts will be

a full Clinton pardon for the email scandal.

[Reter]

42. If she's convicted, I hope he doesn't pardon her

But I don't think she will be.

[99th_Monkey]

35. Thank goodness Obama's finally cleaning-up Bill Clinton's mess. It's long overdue. n/t

[Pastiche423]

38. Don Siegelman is a Democrat!

The only question I would want to ask Obama is, Why haven't you commuted Don's sentence?

So disappointing.

[CountAllVotes]

39. No Leonard Peltier

Sad to say the least.

[niyad]

40. thank you. was just going to see if his name was on the list.

[Sunlei]

45. Thank you President Obama, thousands more please free them all.