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Bluelight Crew
Citing ‘unfair system,’ Obama commutes sentences for 8 crack offenders
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/dec/19/calling-sentence-disparities-unfair-obama-pardons-/
President Obama on Thursday commuted prison sentences for eight people convicted of crack cocaine offenses, including a cousin of Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, one of the president’s staunchest supporters.
The president pardoned 13 others, surpassing in the fifth year of his presidency all the acts of clemency from his entire first term.
“I am commuting the prison terms of eight men and women who were sentenced under an unfair system,” Mr. Obama said in a statement.
“Commuting the sentences of these eight Americans is an important step toward restoring fundamental ideals of justice and fairness.”
Among those whose sentences were commuted is Reynolds Allen Wintersmith Jr., a first cousin of Mr. Patrick. He was sentenced to life after being convicted in Illinois federal court in 1994 on charges related to cocaine possession and conspiracy to distribute cocaine and its products.
Wintersmith was 19 at the time of his arrest. He reportedly was running drugs for a gang called the Gangster Disciples.
Mr. Patrick is among the president’s strongest supporters and has been rumored as a potential replacement for Attorney General Eric H. Holder if and when Mr. Holder leaves his post.
Three years ago, Mr. Obama signed the bipartisan Fair Sentencing Act, which narrowed the disparity of penalties for crimes involving crack and powder cocaine. Those granted clemency Thursday were convicted long before the new law took effect.
“If they had been sentenced under the current law, many of them would have already served their time and paid their debt to society,” Mr. Obama said. “Instead, because of a disparity in the law that is now recognized as unjust, they remain in prison, separated from their families and their communities, at a cost of millions of taxpayer dollars each year.”
Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news...parities-unfair-obama-pardons-/#ixzz2o88dBsCJ
Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/dec/19/calling-sentence-disparities-unfair-obama-pardons-/
President Obama on Thursday commuted prison sentences for eight people convicted of crack cocaine offenses, including a cousin of Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, one of the president’s staunchest supporters.
The president pardoned 13 others, surpassing in the fifth year of his presidency all the acts of clemency from his entire first term.
“I am commuting the prison terms of eight men and women who were sentenced under an unfair system,” Mr. Obama said in a statement.
“Commuting the sentences of these eight Americans is an important step toward restoring fundamental ideals of justice and fairness.”
Among those whose sentences were commuted is Reynolds Allen Wintersmith Jr., a first cousin of Mr. Patrick. He was sentenced to life after being convicted in Illinois federal court in 1994 on charges related to cocaine possession and conspiracy to distribute cocaine and its products.
Wintersmith was 19 at the time of his arrest. He reportedly was running drugs for a gang called the Gangster Disciples.
Mr. Patrick is among the president’s strongest supporters and has been rumored as a potential replacement for Attorney General Eric H. Holder if and when Mr. Holder leaves his post.
Three years ago, Mr. Obama signed the bipartisan Fair Sentencing Act, which narrowed the disparity of penalties for crimes involving crack and powder cocaine. Those granted clemency Thursday were convicted long before the new law took effect.
“If they had been sentenced under the current law, many of them would have already served their time and paid their debt to society,” Mr. Obama said. “Instead, because of a disparity in the law that is now recognized as unjust, they remain in prison, separated from their families and their communities, at a cost of millions of taxpayer dollars each year.”
Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news...parities-unfair-obama-pardons-/#ixzz2o88dBsCJ
Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter
