WASHINGTON (AP) — In his last major act as president, Barack Obama is cutting short the sentences of 330 federal inmates convicted of drug crimes.
The move brings Obama’s bid to correct what he’s called a systematic injustice to a climactic close.
Obama has now commuted the sentences of 1,715 people, more than any other president in U.S. history. During his presidency Obama freed 568 inmates serving life sentences.
The final batch of commutations is the most any U.S. president has issued in a single day. It’s the culmination of a second-term effort to remedy consequences of decades of onerous sentencing requirements that Obama’s said put tens of thousands of drug offenders behind bars for too long.
Obama repeatedly called on Congress to act broadly, but lawmakers never did.
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God damn I’m gonna miss that man and his family. I think I’m in shock and can’t appreciate the depth of how much I’m going to miss them.
So true. As the reality of President Obama’s exit from the White House (and the horror of Donald Trump’s entrance into that honored place) comes closer, the fear and distaste and shame become palpable. I just can’t beat to witness the two families being side-by-side tomorrow.
33 thousand commutations would have barely scratched the surface.
So true. I was just saying to a friend of mine how much I’m going to miss this man and his entire family. I really hope we’re lucky enough to have them continue to stay somewhat visible and involved in the national conversation. They’ve just been the quintessential blue print to me, of everything we should want in a President and First Family. I’m not just talking about his politics, which of course i’m very much fond off, but their personal traits, the Presidents level-headedness and cool, calm and collected demeanor (no matter the situation), both the President and the First Lady’s overtly positive outlook, vision and view of history, the President’s strong believe in utilizing data to make policy decisions, their priorites, etc. (this list could go on and on). They just are class acts, i don’t know what else to call it. I was in College when he was first elected (was actually at school in DC that night and was one of the hundreds, if not thousands, of students and others who ran to the White House to celebrate everything his election stood for to us) so the President will always hold a special place in my heart for truely sparking, I guess you could call it my political awakening.
This friend I was discussing this with sent me a tweet they had just seen, it said something like this, “It’s like America’s amazing dad is leaving us and mom’s new perverted boyfriend just pulled up in his Trans-Am.” I think that pretty accurately sums up how i’ve been feeling in recent days.
Just wish he had done the right thing and removed marijuana from the class 1 list, where it never should have been.
With two teenagers, I can almost understand his decision, but this one thing is my only real disappointment with his administration.