For Immediate Release
Date: May 20, 2011
Contact: Monica Pratt Raffanel, media@famm.org
Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM) president Julie Stewart released the following statement today in response to President Obama's announcement of eight pardons:
"We’re happy that these eight people will have their civil rights restored by this presidential pardon, but it's sad that the Justice Department has not brought the president one prison sentence to shorten. It can’t be true that there isn't a single person among the 210,000 currently in federal prison who shouldn't be there. In fact, during the campaign the president acknowledged that federal prisons are filled with nonviolent offenders serving excessive sentences. Why, then, can’t he find one to commute?"
FAMM is a national nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that supports fair and proportionate sentencing laws that allow judicial discretion while maintaining public safety.
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