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Calling sentence disparities unfair, Obama pardons 8 crack offenders
Washington Times ^ | December 19, 2013 | Dave Boyer

Posted on 12/19/2013 2:06:20 PM PST by Zakeet

President Obama on Thursday commuted the prison sentences for eight people convicted of crack cocaine offenses and pardoned 13 others, surpassing in the fifth year of his presidency all the acts of clemency from his entire first term.

“I am commuting the prison terms of eight men and women who were sentenced under an unfair system,” Mr. Obama said in a statement. “Commuting the sentences of these eight Americans is an important step toward restoring fundamental ideals of justice and fairness.”

[Snip]

“We are excited for the families of those who were granted commutations today, and we are glad that President Obama recognized that these individuals were serving unnecessarily lengthy sentences,” said FAMM [Families Against Mandatory Minimums] President Julie Stewart. “The bottom line, however, is that there are several thousand more where they came from.”

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; US: Massachusetts
KEYWORDS: clemency; cocaine; crack; crackcocaine; obama; prison
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To: lentulusgracchus

Jesse James formented a revolt and killed people.


21 posted on 12/19/2013 2:36:14 PM PST by When do we get liberated? (A socialist is a communist who realizes he must suck at the tit of Capitalism.)
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To: lentulusgracchus

Federal case. No governors involved. And only the president has power of pardon in federal cases. Similarly, president has no power of pardon over state cases.


22 posted on 12/19/2013 2:36:33 PM PST by Bubba Ho-Tep ("More weight!"--Giles Corey)
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To: Zakeet

Free those imprisoned for selling drugs to the next generation and abandon those imprisoned for professing a Christian faith (American Pastor Saeed Abedini). Obama may not be the Devil, but it's not for lack of effort.


23 posted on 12/19/2013 2:40:30 PM PST by so_real ( "The Congress of the United States recommends and approves the Holy Bible for use in all schools.")
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To: Forgotten Amendments; Bubba Ho-Tep
So are you guys propounding that a case of miscarried justice (for the sake of arguing) has no remedy below the Oval Office? That someone actually innocent on the presentiments of liberal mediadom (Fox isn't conservative anymore -- have you heard? -- they're "growing") has no way to present his case, ever, but must languish in durance vile because of raciss evil white people? That if the prisoner is seized of certain ethnic background(s), then 10,000 prosecutors and 120,000 jurors, if they are melanin-deficient, must be wrong?
24 posted on 12/19/2013 2:57:12 PM PST by lentulusgracchus
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To: billhilly
If rehabilitation is part of the goal of incarceration a life sentence is a bit excessive.

Life sentences like his are not rehabilitative. They're intended to be permanent, and reflect a permanent judgment on a person adjudged a career criminal and relegated for the public safety.

25 posted on 12/19/2013 3:00:20 PM PST by lentulusgracchus
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To: Zakeet

IIRC, after Len Bias’s death,there were many in the black community who begged for harsh sentences to stop the crack scourge.

Now those laws are considered “unfair”.

I DO think life is too harsh for any but the biggest drug crimes, such as bundles of coke heroin and the like.


26 posted on 12/19/2013 3:01:03 PM PST by Adder (No, Mr. Franklin, we could NOT keep it.)
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To: When do we get liberated?
Jesse James formented a revolt and killed people.

Thanks for sharpening my point.

27 posted on 12/19/2013 3:02:09 PM PST by lentulusgracchus
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To: DannyTN

I wonder how many he pardoned were white.

Yes: as a racist I would like to know.

By the way were there any other commutations? Or were they all drug dealers and users, and who gave Obama the right to say what laws are not fair?

Maybe he will take all of them to Hawaii with him.


28 posted on 12/19/2013 3:05:19 PM PST by Venturer (Half Staff the Flag of the US for Terrorists.)
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To: bigdaddy45

It’s a life sentence of drug dependency for those who bought it and how many died from overdose, and what about the families of those he sold it to.

If I had my way drug dealers would be executed ,not given 20 years.


29 posted on 12/19/2013 3:07:00 PM PST by Venturer (Half Staff the Flag of the US for Terrorists.)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

That isn’t all of the issue. Those higher sentencing guidelines were enacted because crack was running rampant through the inner city and the liberals were screaming about it. Most of the large cities in the country had crack wars going on for control of the local drug trade.


30 posted on 12/19/2013 3:10:58 PM PST by USNBandit (sarcasm engaged at all times)
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To: Zakeet

“sentenced under an unfair system”

Hey Hussein: It’s not up to you to decide which laws are or are not fair. Now stop doing your level best to destroys America, you bastard.


31 posted on 12/19/2013 3:29:36 PM PST by BenLurkin (This is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion or satire; or both.)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

But packs much more punch than does the powder.

Cocaine is bad stuff for a person and for society — and crack is ten times as bad.


32 posted on 12/19/2013 3:35:31 PM PST by BenLurkin (This is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion or satire; or both.)
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To: BenLurkin
Hey Hussein: It’s not up to you to decide which laws are or are not fair.

Actually, the Presidential Pardon is one of the few legitimate jobs a President has. And it's telling that he's done it less than any of his predecessors. We should all wish that he and his successors spend a lot more time doing this and less messing up our lives.

33 posted on 12/19/2013 3:42:53 PM PST by Forgotten Amendments (I remember when a President having an "enemies list" was a scandal. Now, they have a kill list.)
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To: Forgotten Amendments

Pardon is one thing. Undercutting the very system of laws he swore to protect is another.


34 posted on 12/19/2013 3:47:57 PM PST by BenLurkin (This is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion or satire; or both.)
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To: Zakeet

White House: “These crack offenders are being released because the justice system is fundamentally flawed. While those convicted of drug crimes involving the crack version of cocaine get mandatory sentences up to life without parole, those abusing powder cocaine get to party with celebrities and people like Larry Sinclair. They can even become president.”


35 posted on 12/19/2013 4:00:14 PM PST by unlearner (You will never come to know that which you do not know until you first know that you do not know it.)
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To: Zakeet

Wait until you see Obama’s Pardon List out the day before the end of his term. It will make the Manhattan Metro phone book look small by comparison.


36 posted on 12/19/2013 4:04:00 PM PST by Don Corleone ("Oil the gun..eat the cannoli. Take it to the Mattress.")
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To: Zakeet

If ZEROBAMA had prison friends they would look like him.


37 posted on 12/19/2013 4:06:18 PM PST by broken_arrow1 (I regret that I have but one life to give for my country - Nathan Hale "Patriot")
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To: Venturer

Really? How about liquor store owners? What do you think we should do to them?


38 posted on 12/19/2013 4:41:34 PM PST by bigdaddy45
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To: lentulusgracchus

Like him or not, he’s the President. And the President has the power to issue pardons. Thats part of the deal. And if he wants to let out some small time drug dealer after 20 years in prison, I don’t have a problem with it.


39 posted on 12/19/2013 4:43:40 PM PST by bigdaddy45
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To: Zakeet

New world order needs to keep promoting its drug industry in the minds of the sheeple.


40 posted on 12/19/2013 4:44:22 PM PST by PieterCasparzen (We have to fix things ourselves)
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