Obama’s rush job on mercy

On Tuesday, President Obama commuted the sentences of 111 federal drug offenders.

The federal mandatory minimum sentencing system — the bastard child of Washington’s ill-conceived war on drugs — was supposed to put drug kingpins away for long sentences.

[...] the system lacks proportion, and too often has been used to put away low-level and nonviolent drug offenders for decades — 232 Obama commutation recipients were serving sentences of life without parole.

On the one hand, I think it is great that Obama is bestowing mercy, as I have no doubt that thousands of the 193,070 federal inmates are serving sentences that far outweigh their crimes.

The president changed his clemency criteria to allow for the early release of drug offenders also charged for firearms possession.

The president is right on principle but, as his administration tries to process some 11,000 applications before he exits, the looming deadline expands the opportunity to make mistakes by releasing someone who is violent.

[...] some 2016 commutations come with strings — recipients have to spend time in halfway houses or stick with drug treatment programs.

Former pardon attorney Margaret Love fears that with this rushed schedule, the administration will turn down inmates who deserve commutations.