President Obama on Monday commuted the sentences of 46 men and women convicted of nonviolent drug crimes, saying the cases exemplify why Congress must make permanent changes to the criminal justice system.
In a video posted on the White House website, the president said the 46 Americans — imprisoned for crimes such as conspiracy to distribute cocaine — don’t deserve to remain behind bars.
“These men and women were not hardened criminals, but the overwhelming majority had been sentenced to at least 20 years. Fourteen of them had been sentenced to life for nonviolent drug offenses. So their punishments didn’t fit the crime,” Mr. Obama said. “I believe that, at its heart, America is a nation of second chances. And I believe these folks deserve their second chance.”
The president added that, because of changes to sentencing guidelines, many of those offenders would have been given far less time in prison if they were tried and convicted today.
Since Congress enacted mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes in the 1980s, the federal prison population has grown from 24,000 to more than 214,000, according to Families Against Mandatory Minimums, a group seeking sentencing changes.
And the costs, said Mr. Obama, are over $80 billion a year to incarcerate people who often “have only been engaged in nonviolent drug offenses.”
Prospects for significant structural changes to the justice system have improved recently with growing interest among Republicans in Congress.
In April, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley said he supported looking into sentencing reform, joining former Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., Republican presidential contender Rand Paul, the White House and the billionaire Koch brothers in a political odd-fellow effort to reform the criminal justice system.
Mr. Grassley, Iowa Republican, has long opposed reducing mandatory minimums, and was seen as a barrier to advancing any sort of sentencing reform legislation while at the committee’s helm.
“Over the last several months, I’ve been accused of being a roadblock to sentencing reform. Let me be clear: I have told my colleagues and the White House that I’d like to sit down and talk about how we can move forward,” Mr. Grassley said. “I’m ready to address some of these issues.”
He reiterated that he wasn’t willing to do “an across-the-board cut in mandatory minimums,” but did agree that some should be cut, and perhaps some should be raised, such as for those who commit white-collar crimes.
“Congress simply can’t act fast enough,” said Julie Stewart, president and founder of Families Against Mandatory Minimums. She said that while Mr. Obama’s executive actions have picked off some of the most egregious sentencing inequities, significant legislative action is needed to stop the flow of people “going to prison year in and year out, serving too much time.”
Republican support in any such effort is critical, Stewart said, likening it to a Nixon-goes-to-China moment.
“Nobody’s going to question a Republican’s credibility on being tough on crime,” she said.
In February, Mr. Holder said his effort to reduce federal sentences for nonviolent drug crimes, a program he dubbed “Smart on Crime,” was one of the major successes of his tenure.
The effort has been building traction in Congress with libertarian-leaning Republicans, such as Utah’s Mike Lee and Kentucky’s Mr. Paul, joining with liberals including Sens. Richard J. Durbin and Patrick J. Leahy.
The commutations come one day before Mr. Obama travels to Philadelphia to speak at the annual NAACP convention. Criminal justice reform is expected to be a focal point of his address.
He’ll also discuss drug policy during a trip to a federal prison in El Reno, Oklahoma, later this week. It will be the first time a sitting president has visited a federal corrections facility.
Mr. Obama also said the country is at a place where criminal justice reform truly can be achieved.
“Right now, with our overall crime rate and incarceration rate both falling, we’re at a moment when good people in both parties, Republicans and Democrats, and folks all across the country are coming together around ideas to make the system work smarter, make it work better. And I’m determined to do my part wherever I can,” he said.
Koch Industries, which employs 60,000 workers in the U.S., mostly in manufacturing, dropped its criminal history question from its job applications in April, with the idea that it will give former felons a better chance of gaining employment as they won’t be eliminated at the start of the process.
⦁ This story is based in part on wire service dispatches.
• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.