Outgoing United States President Barack Obama on Thursday commuted the sentences of 330 federal inmates convicted of drug-related crimes. “Proud to make this one of my final actions as president. America is a nation of second chances, and 1,715 people deserved that shot,” he said on Twitter.
Well-behaved prisoners who had already served a decade – with a few exceptions to the 10-year rule – were granted the presidential relief. Even though a number of them were charged with firearms violations along with their drug crimes, most of the sentences were cut short as they were considered non-violent offenders, AP reported.
In his eight-year term, Obama freed 568 prisoners who were serving life terms and commuted the sentences of 1,715. With this move, Obama now holds the record for granting the highest number of commutations, according to the White House. This was also the highest number of commutations handed out in a single day in US history.
According to Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, the White House administration had reviewed all pleas seeking commutations – more than 16,000 in total – with Obama personally reviewing the case of every inmate who was granted a commutation, according to the AP report.
“He saw the injustice of the sentences that were imposed in many situations, and he has a strong view that people deserve a second chance,” said Neil Eggleston, Obama’s White House counsel. “The ones who really stuck home for the president and me are the ones who got their GED [General Educational Development], they worked, they took courses in anger management, they took courses in getting over drug abuse issues, they remained in contract with their families.”
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