Obama Commutes Sentences Of 22 Drug Offenders


This pardoning was meant to underscore the President’s intent to reform the justice system regarding non-violent drug offences.

Obama penned a letter to one convict, Terry Barnes of Mississippi, that reflected more of a position of granting second chances than of ‘reforming the system’:

“It embodies the basic belief in our democracy that people deserve a second chance after having made a mistake in their lives that led to a conviction under our laws,” Obama wrote. “I believe in your ability to prove the doubters wrong,” Obama concluded. “So good luck, and Godspeed.”

It’s not noted whether or not Barnes, or any other offender, was assessed as being a convict that had somehow earned a ‘second chance’.

Have you ever looked at anyone addicted to crack cocaine? Many certainly seem like they have been subject to some kind of violence.

Other controversial releases of criminal onto our streets include 60,000+ illegal immigrants over the past couple of years convicted of everything from murder to kidnapping to rape.

Many of the defendants were serving terms of life in prison; Mr. Obama’s action will release them at the end of July.

One of them, Herman Rosenboro of Kingsport, Tennessee, had been convicted of possession with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine. Another, Lawrence Elmo Scott of Lynchburg, Virginia, was convicted of selling crack cocaine within 1,000 feet of a school.

The Justice Department announced a new commutation drive last year aimed primarily at cutting the sentences of individuals serving long prison terms for trafficking in crack cocaine, who tend to be minorities.

Mr. Obama signed a law in 2010 that reduced the disparity of prison terms for crack cocaine offenses compared with crimes involving the powder form of cocaine.

The Justice Department’s drive has drawn the ire of new Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, Iowa Republican, who is exploring the formal arrangement between the department and advocacy groups pushing for the leniency.

 

Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/mar/31/obama-commutes-sentences-22-drug-dealers/#.VRr3TR7hvro.twitter#ixzz3W4sVwB3t
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Source: washingtontimes.com
Photo: (AP Photo/Susan Walsh


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