President Obama has now commuted the sentences of 562 individuals—more than the past nine presidents
Our nation faces a cycle of poverty, criminality, and incarceration that traps too many Americans and weakens too many communities. Since taking office, President Obama has fought for a smarter and more equitable criminal justice system. He has been committed to using all the tools at his disposal to remedy the unfairness at the heart of the system -- including the presidential power to grant clemency.
The President has now commuted the sentences of 562 men and women incarcerated under outdated and unduly harsh sentencing laws, including 197 individuals who were serving life sentences. The majority were nonviolent offenders sentenced for drug crimes. To date, the President has granted commutations to more prisoners than the past nine presidents combined. He has also granted 70 pardons and is committed to continuing to grant additional commutations and pardons throughout the remainder of his presidency.
At the same time, President Obama knows that clemency alone cannot fix decades of overly punitive sentencing policies, or make our criminal justice system more fair and more just on the whole. That's why his Administration hasworked to enhance fairness and efficiency at all phases of the criminal justice system.