Garunay, Melanie.“ President Obama Has Shortened the Sentences of More People Than the Last 5 Presidents Combined.” Obama White House Archives, 18 Dec. 2015, obamawhitehouse. archives. gov / blog / 2015 / 12 / 18 / president-obama-has-shortened-sentences-more-people-last-5-presidents-combined.
illegal substances. In actuality, nonviolent drug abusers have been the victims of this flawed legislation for decades and sadly there is no viable manner in which to free them. Too frequently, nonviolent offenders, many of whom merely have a substance abuse problem, serve significant sentences behind bars. The only existing method for reversing unjust punishment for such people is from the president using their pardoning power to grant clemency or commutations. Bill Clinton granted 140 such pardons in the final hours of his presidency and Obama doled out 248 par dons during his time as president. In stark contrast to the unflinching rigidity of mandatory minimum sentences, Obama asserted“ the more we understand the human stories behind this problem, the sooner we can start making real changes … break the cycle of incarceration in this country and save taxpayers like you money”( USA Today). Mandatory minimum sentences have failed to effectively target the kingpins of the drug trade and have unfairly locked up thousands of nonviolent offenders in their place.