Obama may grant clemency to "hundreds, perhaps thousands" of nonviolent drug offenders

[Sousuke 1,214]

I doubt it saves a penny.

Those who are serving their time are on the whole a lot more likely to be involved in other crimes not to mention fathering more mouths for the state to feed, house educate and then later incarcerate.

The only reason crime rates have dropped is because incarceration rates have risen.

You suggested it would save money, my post is to question the math by the statistical evidence we have available.

At any rate the re-arrect and re-incarceration rate is so high, many will be back in contact with the expensive legal system again within 3 years anyway.

As a question of fairness, it might or might not be worth relooking at some of those convicted and see if another type of sentence would not be better applied.

Crime rates were more likely connected to Tetraethyllead.

[mota bhai 2,675]

I doubt it saves a penny.

Those who are serving their time are on the whole a lot more likely to be involved in other crimes not to mention fathering more mouths for the state to feed, house educate and then later incarcerate.

The only reason crime rates have dropped is because incarceration rates have risen.

You suggested it would save money, my post is to question the math by the statistical evidence we have available.

At any rate the re-arrect and re-incarceration rate is so high, many will be back in contact with the expensive legal system again within 3 years anyway.

As a question of fairness, it might or might not be worth relooking at some of those convicted and see if another type of sentence would not be better applied.

Someone will ask, so here are some statistics.

Source: http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/rpr94.pdf

[Danno 1,228]

Crime rates were more likely connected to Tetraethyllead.

[SMOKE 1,426]

what qualifies as a 'nonviolent drug offender'?

an ounce or less of weed...yah ok. (likely personal use)

an 8 ball of coke... well if it wasn't separated to...ok. (?personal use?)

a couple ounces of meth... hell no. (not personal use)

[mota bhai 2,675]

what qualifies as a 'nonviolent drug offender'?

an ounce or less of weed...yah ok. (likely personal use)

an 8 ball of coke... well if it wasn't separated to...ok. (?personal use?)

a couple ounces of meth... hell no. (not personal use)

All these decisions are run through a political lens, so I doubt you'll be seeing any meth dealers.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Hopefully and presumably it means drug users, not drug dealers.

[SMOKE 1,426]

All these decisions are run through a political lens, so I doubt you'll be seeing any meth dealers.

that's what we need clarified. what qualifies? the linked article talks about a pos meth dealer.

[Sousuke 1,214]

Crime rates were more likely connected to Tetraethyllead.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2013/01/03/how-lead-caused-americas-violent-crime-epidemic/

[Sousuke 1,214]

I happened to be reading the BBC today at lunch and came across this as well:

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-27067615

[UncleBeer 244]

A man who spends 2 decades at the knee of Rev. Wright has by definition a very keen interest in all things racial

Oh, but he didn't pay attention for 20 years.

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

in his final years in office, Obama ... wants to use his previously dormant pardon power as part of a larger strategy to restore fairness to the criminal-justice system. A senior administration official tells Yahoo News the president could grant clemency to "hundreds, perhaps thousands" of people locked up for nonviolent drug crimes by the time he leaves office — a stunning number that hasn't been seen since Gerald Ford extended amnesty to Vietnam draft dodgers in the 1970s.

The scope of the new clemency initiative is so large that administration officials are preparing a series of personnel and process changes to help them manage the influx of petitions they expect Obama to approve. Among the changes is reforming the recently censured office within the Justice Department responsible for processing pardon petitions. Yahoo News has learned that the pardon attorney, Ronald Rodgers, who was criticized in a 2012 Internal watchdog report for mishandling a high-profile clemency petition, is likely to step down as part of that overhaul. Additional procedures for handling large numbers of clemency petitions could be announced as soon as this week, a senior administration official said, though it could take longer.

http://news.yahoo.com/obama-plans-clemency-for-hundreds-of-drug-offenders--162714911.html

I think most Americans with any common sense know our drug policy is absurd. However releasing many 1000's that violated our laws could send the wrong message. I think on a case by case basis maybe. Weed delaers, small time street peddlers. No crack dealers at all. Just weed, cocaine,etc.

Hopefully and presumably it means drug users, not drug dealers.

there you go, people who got in trouble for possession.

[UncleBeer 244]

Blogger Andy McCarthy sums this up nicely:

"So the pardon power is going to be his way of rewriting the federal narcotics laws which he personally thinks are too severe. So it evidently doesn't matter both that Congress has written these laws, that trials have taken place under these laws, and that his core constitutional responsibility is to take care that those laws be faithfully executed. He's going to rewrite them unilaterally."

"The President has enormous power. And the pardon power's there for good reason. If in individual cases, injustice has been done, if there are mitigating circumstances in a case that warrant a correction, that's why the President has the power. But he's not taking about individual cases here. He's talking about a category of federal law that he philosophically disagrees with. So he's essentially going to rewrite Congress laws by springing everyone. This is not about individual justice in cases and mitigating mistakes or hardships. This is about rewriting federal law."

It becomes increasingly more clear that the preznit received his education in the law so as to be better prepared to subvert it.

[Darnell 8,479]

Zero tolerance for drug offenders. Deport them all, even if they were born here.

Now that's change I can believe in!

One skew, though - send em all to Liberia, regardless of country of birth.

[UncleBeer 244]

Looks like the preznit and his pal Holder are aiming their clemency at crack offenders as well.

Interesting that none of the three major networks reported these plans. They were busy flogging Easter bunny stories instead. Worthless, lapdog media...

[Janelle2002 3,865]

Looks like the preznit and his pal Holder are aiming their clemency at crack offenders as well.

Interesting that none of the three major networks reported these plans. They were busy flogging Easter bunny stories instead. Worthless, lapdog media...

Taking drugs should be handled as a social and moral matter, not a criminal matter. The U.S. has been using a social problem as a criminal problem for reasons I care not to mention for a long time and it needs to be corrected. We don't lock up celebrities for their drug problems, Lindsay Lohan, Amanda Bynes, why do we lock up the poor? Sorry, I cannot be upset about this.

A crack dealer should stay locked up, just like an ecstasy, heroin, meth, cocaine, etc, except weed.