President Obama passed another 111 commutations, adding on to the 214 he issued weeks ago

Barack Obama

The president Obama commuted the sentences of 111 more federal inmates Tuesday, capping a month in which he's nearly doubled the number of commutations granted during his presidency.










Today’s 111 commutation grants underscore the President’s commitment to using his clemency authority to provide a second chance to deserving individuals. To date, President Obama has granted 673 commutations: more commutations than the previous ten presidents combined. More than one-third of the President’s commutation recipients, or 232 individuals, were serving life sentences.

White House Counsel Neil Eggleston says that President Obama considers every case to give non-violent offenders a second chance at life outside the penitentiary walls. He’s now commuted the sentences of 673 inmates.

Legal groups supporting the president's actions have formed an organization called Clemency Project 2014 that has submitted some 1,600 clemency petitions to the Justice Department's Office of the Pardon Attorney. The group said a prisoner must have served at least 10 years of his or her sentence to be considered for a commutation grant and must be a non-violent offender without significant ties to gangs or cartels. The inmate also must have demonstrated good conduct in prison while serving a sentence that likely would have been substantially lower if handed out today.