Obama to issue orders freeing dozens of federal prisoners locked up on nonviolent drug offenses.

President obama is expected to commute dozens of sentences for non violent drug offences in the next couple of weeks.

ASHINGTON — Sometime in the next few weeks, aides expect President Obama to issue orders freeing dozens of federal prisoners locked up on nonviolent drug offenses. With the stroke of his pen, he will probably commute more sentences at one time than any president has in nearly half a century.

The expansive use of his clemency power is part of a broader effort by Mr. Obama to correct what he sees as the excesses of the past, when politicians eager to be tough on crime threw away the key even for minor criminals. With many Republicans and Democrats now agreeing that the nation went too far, Mr. Obama holds the power to unlock that prison door, especially for young African-American and Hispanic men disproportionately affected.

Its not enough by far, but at least its a start. Get some of these guys that are doing 20 years for pot out of prison, he should sign all 30,000 of those petitions for non violent crimes.

www.nytimes.com...

The immortal words of Joe Rogan.

“Prison is for rapists, thieves, and murderers. If you lock someone up for smoking a plant that makes them happy, you’re the f#@##g criminal.”

An excellent move that will somehow be twisted to enrage the emotional, knee-jerk partisans.

The headlines will be amusing in the morning, I'm sure.

a reply to: alienjuggalo

Dozens!

Yay a few people!

Woop woop!

originally posted by: onequestion
a reply to: alienjuggalo

Dozens!

Yay a few people!

Woop woop!

Yep its not enough..

a reply to: alienjuggalo

I don't know how much good this will do. Out of those dozens, too many will go right back in. I like the steps Obama is taking, but I don't see this having much of an effect.

a reply to: alienjuggalo

Cue the people of America who believe that everyone in prison is a dangerous person. That they should sit in there for the rest of their lives, or if they do get out,bar them from any sort of job and blacklist them to the community.

Even if they do get out their criminal record will still keep them in a mental prison, and they will probably be put on probation meaning a lot of the "offenders" will go right back in.

The only thing that will work is a full presidential pardon. No probation and no restitution. But that won't work either because the government will realize how much they will lose on income.

a reply to: alienjuggalo

With many Republicans and Democrats now agreeing that the nation went too far, Mr. Obama holds the power to unlock that prison door, especially for young African-American and Hispanic men disproportionately affected.

Seems a bit racist, bolding is mine. Why especially, is it a "set my people free" thing along with "I needs them new voters" thing? Why are they disproportionately effected? Did white, asian, native american and indian people all get a free pass? Although I agree that pot smokers shouldn't be in jail, but Obama's statement does seem racist.

Cheers - Dave

Good move as long as they are vetted properly. Some people serving time for nonviolent drug offenses . Have significant criminal history that may involve violence.



This paragraph in your source caught my eye.

“It’s a touchy situation,” Mr. Cole said in an interview. “You don’t want to just supplant a judge’s determination of sentence.” But after reviewing many clemency petitions, he said, “I’d seen a number of them where the sentences seemed very high for the conduct and it noted that the judge at the time of sentencing thought the sentence was too high. We looked at that and thought this really isn’t supplanting the judge.”

The way I read that. The judges were dotting all the I's for the defendant . Many of them didn't like the mandatory minimums either. They voice their opinions at sentencing that basically their hands were tied on certain cases .

This judges must have known that those words would lay heavily in any clemency or sentence reduction hearings in the future.


My question is where are those judges and why aren't any of those wise men in the Supreme Court ?

You know, I think this would be a good thing to free non-violent drug offenders from prison, however I am pretty sure it won't erase their records and those ppl who have felony convictions will have a really tough time finding a meaningful job in society because of that. Also, on the other hand it may send the wrong message to these convicts that "hey okay, carry on" which will land them right back in the system. They really need to revisit the scheduling of drugs and penalties for drug offenses to be less harsh and release prisoners based on their meeting their time served based on the revised penalties. Of course that would mean the DOJ would actually have to do something, which they won't. I am a bit skeptical that Obama will do anything at all, but we shall see.

a reply to: mapsurfer_

Because if they are letting people out on the hopes they do mess up again. Meaning more government restitution.

I have a non violent felony, sat a month in county, and have 5 years probation and a fine of $5000 for a crime that is only a crime in California no where else.

If I were to mess up anywhere in that 5 years they reset the restitution back to $5000 and restart the probation from the beginning. Only to keep you paying into the system.

a reply to: bobs_uruncle

Or it just the way it is that more of them are locked up for the charges.

And if they are in prison most likely means felony so they can't vote.

a reply to: TheLotLizard

Yeah, I get it... probation gives you just enough rope to hang yourself. Seems that the system is design to be self-perpetuating (ie. revolving door) and worst part is the felony on your record just doesn't go away and most employers won't even consider hiring a felon. On top of that, the govt strips a felons voting rights and you can't own a gun. It's really an unconstitutional justice the states have legislated, and it very much needs reformation. Best advise I can give is... soon as you are off probation, have a lawyer file a petition to expunge your record so you can move on with your life.

Regards.

a reply to: alienjuggalo

There was already a thread started on this a couple of days ago.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

a reply to: TheLotLizard

Wouldn't the loss of restitution be offset by the loss of expense? Feeding and housing and medical and even sometimes education are paid for each prisoner. Release them and regain that revenue.

originally posted by: introvert
An excellent move that will somehow be twisted to enrage the emotional, knee-jerk partisans.

The headlines will be amusing in the morning, I'm sure.

Ah, those same partisans who then rant about their taxes, paying for the imprisonment of thousands of people who should not be in prison! lol

Obviously this doesn't go far enough, and lets hope the President is encouraged by the reaction to this to do more. That's what this might be, a test to test public response before beginning an overhaul of the incarceration system.

Personally I would love to see the US take back control of the prison system from the private corporations making massive profits from the imprisonment of people who should not be in prison. Your whole system is corrupt to the core, with people benefiting financially from the legal slavery of people who should never have been imprisoned to begin with.

originally posted by: ventian
a reply to: alienjuggalo

I don't know how much good this will do. Out of those dozens, too many will go right back in. I like the steps Obama is taking, but I don't see this having much of an effect.

I agree, there needs to be more done to get these people back on their feet when they get out.
People seem to have a weird notion of what prison is supposed to be about - it's supposed to be about rehabilitation, not putting someone in a cage and leaving them there to rot for just long enough before you let them out again with nothing to do and nowhere to go.

This is one of the reasons why I cannot understand how America thinks it's the world leader. Really guys, you're not that great. There are plenty of countries around the world who have adequate mental health services, had national health care for years, have functioning rehabilitation programs, give people who served a sentence the assistance they need when they leave, give people proper addiction treatment... I could go on.

Really, I don't get it.
Maybe too many Americans are so closed to the outside world they genuinely don't know that there are plenty of nations in Europe beating them in pretty much every facet of a functioning society? I guess if you just cheer "USA! USA! USA!" loudly and often enough you can convince yourselves your country is better than every other without even bothering to look? lol

Better let em out before somebody realizes what it is that is actually going on here with the so called "justice system", Eh?.

Nah, y'all won't ever get it anyway.

Phase 2 starts.

Excellent real-time data material for Obama's Federalized Police programs.

a reply to: bobs_uruncle

Seems a bit racist, bolding is mine. Why especially, is it a "set my people free" thing along with "I needs them new voters" thing? Why are they disproportionately effected? Did white, asian, native american and indian people all get a free pass? Although I agree that pot smokers shouldn't be in jail, but Obama's statement does seem racist.

Perhaps you should avoid knee jerk reactions to articles you haven't read? That wasn't a statement from the President. Maybe you "needs them misquotes" so you have something to express fake outrage over?

originally posted by: xuenchen
Phase 2 starts.

Excellent real-time data material for Obama's Federalized Police programs.

What's the time line on that, you have been making little remarks like this for months now.
He doesn't much time left as president, seems he better get a move on it.