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 ...
Jesse James formented a revolt and killed people.
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.
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.
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.
Thanks for sharpening my point.
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.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
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.
Pardon is one thing. Undercutting the very system of laws he swore to protect is another.
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.”
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.
If ZEROBAMA had prison friends they would look like him.
Really? How about liquor store owners? What do you think we should do to them?
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.
New world order needs to keep promoting its drug industry in the minds of the sheeple.
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