Obama Grants Clemency To 72 More Convicts Before Leaving Office

President Barack Obama has made it a mission to release as many federal prisoners as he possibly can before he leaves office in January.

On Friday, he commuted the sentences of 72 more inmates, bringing his total to 944 — more than all other presidents in the post-war era combined.

In fact, in just two weeks, Obama has commuted nearly 200 sentences, as he granted clemency to 98 convicts last Thursday, according to The Daily Caller.

Of the convicts released per the president’s order, 324 were serving life sentences for either “nonviolent drug offenses” or “nonviolent weapons charges.”

White House Counsel Neil Eggleston has praised Obama’s commitment to “reinvigorating the clemency authority” of the president, calling it “unprecedented.”

Of course, what else was he going to say about his boss?

“(O)ur nation is a nation of second chances, where mistakes from the past will not deprive deserving individuals of the opportunity to rejoin society and contribute to their families and communities,” he said.

Eggleston has been vocal about the White House’s support for criminal justice reform and has urged Congress to reconsider mandatory minimum sentences which set minimum sentencing guidelines for certain crimes.

“As Congress returns this month, it is essential that they take up bipartisan criminal justice reform legislation, including reforms that address the excessive mandatory minimum sentences that imprisoned many of the individuals receiving commutation today,” he said.

But the truth is that many of these convicts who are released back into society — particularly those who committed crimes severe enough to warrant a life sentence — go right back to their involvement with criminal activity, such as distributing large amounts of cocaine and heroine or illegally toting a firearm, or, worse, doing both at the same time.

These criminals were in prison for a reason — to keep our communities safe from drugs and other illegal activity, and releasing them before their sentences are up puts all of us in danger.

http://conservativetribune.com/obama-gives-drug-convicts-gift/