This seems like a good thing to have done

MajGenl.Meade · Post by **MajGenl.Meade** » Mon Jul 13, 2015 8:00 pm

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama cut the prison sentences of 46 non-violent offenders on Monday, including 14 who were serving life sentences, saying "their punishments didn't fit the crime."

"These men and women were not hardened criminals," Obama said in a video released by the White House. He said the overwhelming majority of the 46 had been sentenced to at least 20 years.

The move was part of a broader effort by the administration to make the U.S. criminal justice system fairer. Obama has now issued nearly 90 commutations during his presidency, most of them to non-violent offenders sentenced for drug crimes under outdated sentencing guidelines. A commutation leaves the conviction in place, but ends the punishment.

Obama wrote a personal letter to each of the 46 individuals to notify them of their commutation.

In a letter to Jerry Bailey, who was sentenced to 30 years in prison for conspiracy to violate laws against crack-cocaine, Obama praised Bailey for showing the potential to turn his life around.

"Now it is up to you to make the most of this opportunity," Obama wrote in the letter, which was sent to Bailey's address at a federal correctional facility in Georgia,. "It will not be easy," Obama said, "and you will confront many who doubt people with criminal records can change."

Obama's lawyer, White House counsel Neil Eggleston, predicted the president would issue even more commutations before leaving office in early 2017. But he also said that Obama's powers to fix the problem were limited, adding that "clemency alone will not fix decades of overly punitive sentencing policies."

Obama this week is devoting considerable attention to the criminal justice system. He plans to lay out ideas for how to improve the fairness of the system during a speech to the NAACP in Philadelphia on Tuesday. And on Thursday, he is to become the first sitting president to visit a federal prison when he goes to the El Reno Federal Correctional Institution outside of Oklahoma City. While there, he will meet with law enforcement officials and inmates.

wesw · Post by **wesw** » Mon Jul 13, 2015 8:02 pm

well, it distracts from his foreign policy at the least.....

Big RR · Post by **Big RR** » Mon Jul 13, 2015 8:05 pm

Which foreign policy issues are your referring to?

wesw · Post by **wesw** » Mon Jul 13, 2015 8:05 pm

iran, at the moment. it seems to be a pattern.

Crackpot · Post by **Crackpot** » Mon Jul 13, 2015 8:11 pm

You mean the Iran which we are getting really close to a nuclear treaty with?

wesw · Post by **wesw** » Mon Jul 13, 2015 8:12 pm

no, the other one.....

Joe Guy · Post by **Joe Guy** » Mon Jul 13, 2015 8:13 pm

There you go, wesw. Typical Obama bashing redneck-speak. If Obama does something good, it must be for an underlying evil purpose.

Give a ni... I mean, give a guy a break!!

Big RR · Post by **Big RR** » Mon Jul 13, 2015 8:37 pm

I'll wait to see the agreement/treaty before I will comment on it. Unlike the repubs in Congress and other critics, I cannot divine the terms out of thin air.

wesw · Post by **wesw** » Mon Jul 13, 2015 8:48 pm

look, I m on board with repairing relations between the US and iran. I think it is desirable to do so. I believe that Saudi Arabia is the greatest threat as far as islamists go, and I believe that they support more terrorists than any other nation on earth, but quietly , quietly....

when president Obama barely had a word of encouragement for the 2009 protesters in Iran, he lost credibility in my eyes, and has not regained it. Libya, and their islamist faction was his choice as far as who to go to bat for, then he stood by the muslim brotherhood after the egyption revolution, and continued to stand by them until the people and the army did away with them on their own.

the theocracy is not the Iranian govt that we will ever reconcile with, not as long as they scream for our destruction in their halls of power

Econoline · Post by **Econoline** » Mon Jul 13, 2015 8:59 pm

FWIW...here's an interesting point (from vox.com):

The United States faces, in the Middle East, many Sunni Arab countries with elites that are pro-American and populations that are deeply hostile, whereas in Iran it faces elites that are mostly hostile — or require hostility to maintain their power — and a population that is really ready for change.

In other words, America's Middle Eastern allies are mostly countries where authoritarian rulers impose deeply unpopular pro-American policies. Our greatest enemy is a country where authoritarian rulers impose unpopular anti-American policies.

wesw · Post by **wesw** » Mon Jul 13, 2015 9:05 pm

I don t dispute much of that econoline, I do , however, believe that the Saudi royal family, thru its wahabi education programs and its financing, is the greatest supporter of the destruction of the US, in the muslim world.,

Lord Jim · Post by **Lord Jim** » Mon Jul 13, 2015 9:35 pm

It's a good start, I'd like to see more of this. Including and especially that poor bastard that somebody posted about a while ago who wasn't covered by this, and has now been in prison 20 years longer than the drug kingpin he was working for.

Long Run · Post by **Long Run** » Mon Jul 13, 2015 10:03 pm

I would hope every executive (POTUS and governors) would have a vetting team in place that regularly reviews these types of situations. Is this news because of the amount of commutations at one time, as it has been noted that he did not have many clemency/commutation actions in his first years?

BoSoxGal · Post by **BoSoxGal** » Mon Jul 13, 2015 10:40 pm

That Obama is a Pinko Commie thug-hugger!

Gob · Post by **Gob** » Tue Jul 14, 2015 12:59 am

MajGenl.Meade wrote:
"These men and women were not hardened criminals," Obama said in a video released by the White House.

Bet they are now though!

Guinevere · Post by **Guinevere** » Tue Jul 14, 2015 10:11 am

Long Run wrote:I would hope every executive (POTUS and governors) would have a vetting team in place that regularly reviews these types of situations. Is this news because of the amount of commutations at one time, as it has been noted that he did not have many clemency/commutation actions in his first years?

Link to Office of the Pardon Atty with some stats : http://www.justice.gov/pardon

It appears one has to apply, the office does not automatically review cases without an application, but there is an initiative encouraging applications for those sentenced under older, more stringent laws and who are non-violent offenders.

wesw · Post by **wesw** » Sun Jul 19, 2015 11:45 am

I watched Obama s statement from the fed prison he visited. he is so accomplished at lying that it is hard to tell when he is being honest, but his statement actually seemed genuine in this instance.

so there you go joe..., a bravo for the pinko.....

liberty · Post by **liberty** » Sun Jul 19, 2015 9:47 pm

How does the holy Islamic follower of God reconciled with the devil? He does not reconcile with the devil. Is it not the duty of a true believer to kill the devil if he can? To the Iranian mullahs , the only people that really count in Iran, the US must seem closer to the devil than ever before. Not only do we allow abortion, pornography, drugs and alcohol, but now we approve of homosexuality and homosexual marriage. Things that I except for drugs have I no real problem with, but that is not the way the mullahs see it. Those are things that could get you killed in Iran. If you all wanted to reconcile with the Iranians the first thing you all would have to do is outlaw those thing I listed.

MajGenl.Meade · Post by **MajGenl.Meade** » Mon Jul 20, 2015 12:06 am

Things that I except for drugs have I no real problem with

So cast your vote.... which of these is lib?

Lord Jim · Post by **Lord Jim** » Mon Jul 20, 2015 12:28 am

Lib, was that intended for a different thread?

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