Posted on 04/21/2014 8:55:47 AM PDT by SoFloFreeper
....Thousands and thousands of people like [the woman described above].are serving punishingly long sentences in federal prison based on draconian policies that were a relic of the "tough on crime" antidrug laws of the '80s and '90s. Thirty years after skyrocketing urban violence and drug use sparked politicians to impose longer and longer sentences for drug crimes, America now incarcerates a higher rate of its population than any other country in the world. This dubious record has finally provoked a bipartisan backlash against such stiff penalties. The old laws are slowly being repealed.
Now, in his final years in office, Obama has trained his sights on prisoners like Scrivner, and wants to use his previously dormant pardon power as part of a larger strategy to restore fairness to the criminal-justice system. A senior administration official tells Yahoo News the president could grant clemency to "hundreds, perhaps thousands" of people locked up for nonviolent drug crimes by the time he leaves office — a stunning number that hasn't been seen since Gerald Ford extended amnesty to Vietnam draft dodgers in the 1970s.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Just like marriage with the left...it all means NOTHING.
They can’t vote if they’re in jail.....it’s the Chicago way.
It has nothing to do with libertarianism. It’s all about courting the class of voters that dwell within the drug culture. Expect to see pot legalization on more and more state ballots to draw out the youth vote.
the is the OUTLAW regime.... starts at the top and seeps to the basest levels... i am sure these drug offenders are going to go right out and do it again... drugs = crime = violence = death.... THANKS OBAMA and HOLDER.... hope it lands in your home....
Good. As a former Prosecutor, I can say that some of these sentences are utterly absurd.
I bet they don't get their firearms rights back.
They want 'em voting, not packing.
The law says the President may offer clemency.
Tell me the demographics and I’ll tell you his reason.
Let them out of their prison cells and they will me out on the streets returning to the underworld of crime.
No doubt he has ulterior motives; however, it seems like an overdue action. Obama is just exercising his Presidential powers for granting pardons. The pardons are just as much a part of the law, and the enforcement thereof, as the original sentencing.
crazy
The hippy-in-chief will pardon more than just drug pushers. The counter culture has won, at least for the moment.
Its pointless. Few pure drug offenses outside of major smuggling result in real jail time.
Helps pad the Obamacare numbers.
Why do liberals always state this as if it was a bad thing? The fact that the USA actually captures and punishes people that commit crimes against society is a good thing. It helps make the country as safe and free as it is today. Its a shame the inner cities don't clean up the thugs and gangs.
Ha! He’ll need to get around the EPA just to bury these guys!!
I’m all for the pardoning of malum prohibitum violators; there are plenty of people who actively harm others out on the street, especially Wall Street. That said, I don’t think this is anything more than a stopped clock being right twice a day, and I too suspect ulterior motives on Obama’s part.
Let the record show, Ho says Obama's release of hundreds of drug offenders is "good".
I am aware of the Constitution, thanks. The Congress ALSO has the legal right to declare war, that doesn’t mean it would be wise for Congress to declare war on Canada.
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