On Tuesday, President Obama commuted the sentences of 111 inmates. This is his latest effort to ease the harsh penalties the system gives to nonviolent drug offenders.
When Obama commuted the sentence, he recounted his longstanding criticism of the punishment typically handed to these kinds of offenders.He has called the effects of the sentences handed down during the country’s war on drugs “devastating”.
He also became the first sitting president to visit a federal prison, where he spoke on the importance of “second chances”.
This month alone, President Obama commuted the sentences of 214 other inmates and set a single-day record for his administration. The 325 commutations that he announced in August are the most that any president has ever achieved in one month.
“They are individuals who received unduly harsh sentences under outdated laws for committing largely nonviolent drug crimes, for example, the 35 individuals whose life sentences were commuted today. For each of these applicants, the president considers the individual merits of each application to determine that an applicant is ready to make use of his or her second chance.”
The inmates involved have been convicted of offenses that range from distribution to possession of narcotics such as cocaine and methamphetamine. Some will be freed just before New Year’s Day, though many will still be required to enroll in a drug treatment program of some kind.
One such individual is Tim Tyler, who was sentenced at 25 for selling LSD while traveling the country to follow a series of concerts by the Grateful Dead. His sentence will now expire on August30, 2018, on the condition that he joins a drug treatment program.
The total number of inmates that President Obama commuted is expected to rise to 673 with the round announced on Tuesday. This is nearly equal to the number of commutations issued by the previous 11 administrations, which was 690.
