Politics. On Point.

President Obama, in his last few weeks in office,  granted commutation of sentence to 153 individuals and pardons to 78 individual s . To date, under his presidential power, Obama has granted clemency to nearly 1,200 individuals for mostly drug-related offenses. President Obama greets inmates during a visit to El Reno Federal Correctional Institution in El Reno, Okla., July 16, 2015. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza). It has been no secret that the United States imprisons more citizens, namely African American and other people of color, with longer sentences than  than any other group (the stain of racism) for the same drug-related offenses.   President Obama has said that his commutations and pardons have been “another step forward in upholding our ideals of justice and fairness.”  White House graphic. White Counsel Neil Eggleston wrote in a White House blog post  that, " Today’s grants signify the President’s continued commit...

The president doesn't need the help of Congress, at least, to grant pardons to the following seventeen individuals who were jailed for a series of various malfeasance. A presidential has the unique ability to override the justice system, release anyone he chooses from paying a fine, and return a person to the state of innocence that person had before he ever committed a wrong doing, without providing a reason for his decisions. Unlike the current administration's predecessor,who pardoned Scotter Libby, there are no persons in this year's list who were tried and convicted of perjury, or obstruction of justice. Most of the offenders on this year's list weren't serving serious jail time, and were already on probation.  Some have already asked if much thought went into the selection of the individuals since there are many individuals who sit on death row in several states across the country who may never again see the light of day for a crime they never comm...