Obama commutes sentences of another 111 federal inmates

Obama commutes 111 more federal prison sentences

(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

published 31 August 2016

On Tuesday, President Obama commuted the sentences of 111 federal inmates, most of them jailed on nonviolent drug convictions, and set a new record for most presidential commutations issued in a month. Obama began August commuting the sentences of 214 inmates, bringing his total above the combined commutations of the previous nine presidents, and now, at 673, he can add Eisenhower to that list. The last 11 administrations issued a combined 690 commutations, so Obama can lap Truman, too, with 17 more.

Obama's efforts to free prisoners sentenced under harsher laws than are currently on the books is making only a small dent in the U.S. prison population — there are about 195,000 inmates in federal prison, down from 210,000 in 2014, plus 1.3 million in state facilities, and more than half of federal inmates were convicted of drug offenses. Along with his 673 commutations, the White House says, Obama "has also granted 70 pardons and is committed to continuing to grant additional commutations and pardons throughout the remainder of his presidency." You can read a list of the 111 inmates and what they were convicted of at The Washington Post.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.