Presidential pardons by Obama have been forgiving cocaine dealers, thieves, robbers, and other criminals with reference the Fair Sentencing Act.
As previously reported by The Inquisitr , President Obama commuted the prison sentences of eight drug offenders by offering clemency.
At this point you’re probably wondering what the difference is between offering clemency and Presidential pardons. Clemency shortens the prison sentence being served while Presidential pardons officially forgive the entire crime and even restores the right to vote as a citizen of the United States.
You might also be surprised to learn that Obama’s Presidential pardons have been historically low in number despite being known as a progressive willing to work with criminals (he couldn’t even kill a turkey after the White House hosted an online race to see which Thanksgiving bird would live). After all, the stance of the Federal government on marijuana has been slowly releasing the crackdown under Obama. But The 13 Presidential pardons and eight clemencies announced by the White House brought Obama’s total to 52 pardons and nine clemencies. As a comparison, right before leaving office President George W. Bush’s Presidential pardons list included 14 pardons and two commuted sentences.
This is how President Obama’s Presidential pardons list was justified:
“Three years ago, I signed the bipartisan Fair Sentencing Act, which dramatically narrowed the disparity between penalties for crack and powder cocaine offenses. This law began to right a decades-old injustice, but for thousands of inmates, it came too late. If they had been sentenced under the current law, many of them would have already served their time and paid their debt to society. Instead, because of a disparity in the law that is now recognized as unjust, they remain in prison, separated from their families and their communities, at a cost of millions of taxpayer dollars each year.”
Some estimates claim there could be as many as 8,000 people who could fall under this category. And it’s not like forgiving cocaine dealers is unusual. President Bush did the same, although they were fewer in number and many tended to be for possession of cocaine, not being a drug dealer. But Obama’s list of Presidential pardons also includes meth dealers , armed bank robbers, thieves, and embezzlers.
Do you think Obama’s Presidential pardons go too far in including drug dealers pushing out meth and cocaine?