Obama’s drug-sentencing quagmire

President Obama’s plan to commute sentences of nonviolent drug offenders sentenced for cocaine-related crimes is not only inefficient and convoluted, but also heavily biased due to the involvement of politically-charged advocacy groups like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). According to the plan, prisoners must apply for sentence commutations with the Department of Justice. Due to a shortage of government lawyers, the Obama administration turned to outside legal help from four advocacy groups: American Civil Liberties Union, Families Against Mandatory Minimums, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and the American Bar Association. Despite their involvement, few applications have been processed, and only eight prisoners had their sentences commuted last year. This initiative has drawn criticism from both sides of the political spectrum.

As the article states, Judicial Watch has filed a FOIA lawsuit to further unearth correspondence between the administration and these advocacy groups on this matter:

In June, Judicial Watch filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit demanding correspondence between the outside groups and DOJ, hoping to expose backdoor deals between the Clemency Project and the government. A judge has given the department until February to respond.