November
29,
2016
The
Honorable
Barack
Obama
The
White
House
1600
Pennsylvania
Ave
NW
Washington,
DC
20500
Dear
Mr.
President:
We
have
strongly
supported
your
initiative
to
grant
clemency
to
incarcerated
individuals,
and
we
applaud
your
efforts
to
review
as
many
petitions
as
possible
before
you
leave
office.
We
know
how
important
this
issue
is
to
you,
and
with
time
running
short,
we
know
your
team
is
working
overtime
to
commute
the
sentences
of
as
many
worthy
individuals
as
possible.
However,
in
the
interest
of
justice,
we
hope
you
will
consider
additional
steps
that
would
expand
the
number
of
individuals
eligible
for
relief.
While
your
administration
continues
to
review
individual
petitions,
we
urge
you
to
also
determine
that
nonviolent
offenders
in
certain
extremely
low-‐risk
categories
either
deserve
expedited
review
or
should
be
granted
clemency
absent
an
individualized
review.
With
time
running
short
on
your
time
in
office,
these
steps
would
be
a
way
for
you
to
deliver
lasting
change
for
thousands
of
deserving
individuals
and
their
families.
For
example,
your
administration
could
make
sure
that
you
have
given
consideration
to
all
of
the
people
who
did
not
get
the
benefit
of
retroactivity
under
the
Fair
Sentencing
Act
in
2010,
including
those
who
filed
late
or
did
not
file
for
clemency.
The
U.S.
Sentencing
Commission
staff
could
identify
these
individuals
and
DOJ
could
use
prison
placement
(to
a
camp
–
the
lowest
level
of
federal
incarceration
–
or
to
a
low
or
medium
facility)
as
a
surrogate
for
how
an
individual
has
behaved
in
prison.
There
is
bipartisan
agreement
that
pre-‐Fair
Sentencing
Act
crack
sentences
are
unjust
and
have
disproportionately
affected
people
of
color,
but
there
is
no
mechanism
for
addressing
that
injustice
outside
of
clemency.
People
who
have
received
sentences
in
narcotic
cases
involving
other
drugs
besides
crack
who
through
good
behavior
worked
their
way
down
to
placement
in
a
camp
or
low
or
medium
facility
could
receive
similar
consideration.
You
could
also
give
special
priority
to
veterans
and
older
individuals
and
could
consider
granting
relief
to
individuals
who
have
been
labeled
as
career
offenders
who
have
only
narcotics
as
a
triggering
offense,
a
group
that
the
Sentencing
Commission
recently
urged
Congress
to
treat
differently
because
of
their
lower
rates
of
recidivism
and
less
culpable
conduct.
Similarly,
those
individuals
who
have
received
double
mandatory
minimum
sentences
where
the
individual
has
only
drug
convictions
are
calling
out