Legal Victories Expected re Clemency and Pardons

On the day before the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Michigan's right to ban affirmative action in its colleges and universities, Attorney General Eric Holder announced an expansive clemency review that could release thousands of prisoners. Below is an excerpt from the Daily Kos:

Attorney General Eric Holder announced in a video Monday, April 21, 2014, that the Department of Justice on Wednesday will lay out the details of expanded criteria for clemency recommendations it makes to the president for his review. The changes might mean thousands of prisoners could be granted clemency.

Holder did not say which prisoners might benefit from the coming changes. But he took note of the Fair Sentencing Act in 2010. That significantly but not wholly reduced the vast sentencing difference between convictions for crack and powder cocaine, a factor in the previous law that had had a tremendously disparate impact on African Americans. But the 2010 law did nothing for drug offenders sentenced before it took effect.

Holder said, "There are still too many people in federal prison who were sentenced under the old regime —and who, as a result, will have to spend far more time in prison than they would if sentenced today for exactly the same crime,” Holder said. “This is simply not right.”

We may owe this legal victory in part to the United Nations, which criticized the United States on mass incarceration and disparate racial sentencing in its report that was released in March 2014, saying:

“[The] committee continues to be concerned about racial disparities at different stages in the criminal justice system, sentencing disparities and the over-representation of individuals belonging to racial and ethnic minorities in prisons and jails.”

Al Jazeera reported, "The U.N. body calls on the U.S. to retroactively implement the 2010 Fair Sentencing Act and close a loophole that allows thousands of nonviolent offenders to languish in federal prisons as a result of draconian drug laws. The report also demands measures to end to racial profiling and praises steps to end New York City’s stop-and-frisk program."

CONGRATULATIONS, AMERICA. Reducing mass incarceration is a step toward justice - a legal victory for overly-sentenced inmates and for the nation.

Three References:

Attorney General Holder's announcement: Possible release for thousands of prisoners

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/04/21/1293568/-Eric-Holder-announces-expansive-clemency-review-that-could-release-thousands-of-prisoners

Al Jazeera Report re United Nations' Assessment of Human Rights in the USA

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/3/27/us-human-rights-reportun.html

Black, Get Back; Affirmative Action Banned

http://freespeakblog.blogspot.com/2014/04/black-get-back-affirmative-action-banned.html

Paragraphs 1 and 2 repeated: On the day before the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Michigan's right to ban affirmative action in its colleges and universities, Attorney General Eric Holder announced an expansive clemency review that could release thousands of prisoners. Below is an excerpt from the Daily Kos:

Attorney General Eric Holder announced in a video Monday, April 21, 2014, that the Department of Justice on Wednesday will lay out the details of expanded criteria for clemency recommendations it makes to the president for his review. The changes might mean thousands of prisoners could be granted clemency.

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