And he continued his vigorous use of a lesser form of his clemency power, having now commuted the sentences of 1,176 federal prison inmates —
mostly for long, mandatory-minimum drug sentences imposed during a war on drugs waged over the past three decades.
But time is running out for Obama to address the backlog of clemency cases at the Office of the Pardon Attorney. As of Nov. 30, there were 1,937 pardon petitions and 13,042 applications for a commutation of sentence still pending.
“We need the president to pick up the pace of commutations before he leaves office," said Michael Collins of the Drug Policy Alliance. “He is to be applauded for his actions thus far,
but we know that the next occupant of the White House is unsympathetic to the cause of mass incarceration, and to the plight of those serving unjust sentences in federal prison.”