US, April 2, 2016 – President Barak Obama early this week met with 61 prisoners pardoned by his administration, bringing the total number of beneficiaries to 248.
By this number, Obama has granted more clemency to prisoners than any previous president.
Among those pardoned were 91 people serving life jail. The prisoners were pardoned under President Obama’s clemency initiative.
During the meeting at the Whitehouse, the former prisoners discussed the re-entry process and ways that the process can be strengthened to give every individual the resources needed to move from prison and lead a fulfilling, productive life.
In a letter to the 61 individuals receiving clemency, Obama said: “The power to grant pardons and commutations… embodies the basic belief in our democracy that people deserve a second chance after having made a mistake in their lives that led to a conviction under our laws.”
He cautioned those receiving clemency that what they do with this unexpected opportunity reflects not only on each individual person, but also on all those still behind bars who are seeking that same shot at a new life.
“Despite the progress we have made, it is important to remember that clemency is nearly always a tool of last resort that can help specific individuals, but does nothing to make our criminal justice system on the whole more fair and just. Clemency of individual cases alone cannot fix decades of overly punitive sentencing policies.
“So while we continue to work to resolve as many clemency applications as possible – and make no mistake, we are working hard at this – only broader criminal justice reform can truly bring justice to the many thousands of people behind bars serving unduly harsh and outdated sentences’’, he said.
He explained that for the first time in a quarter century, Americans across the board acknowledge that the criminal justice system is broken and needs to change.
“This is no longer a partisan issue: Republicans and Democrats agree that many sentencing laws are outdated and unnecessarily harsh. We are continuing to work in bipartisan fashion to secure those much-needed, long-overdue reforms in Congress so that thousands more deserving individuals may benefit from the second-chance that these individuals earned today’’, he said.
