Obama Commutes Sentences of 72 More Federal Prisoners

PJ Media | 11:31 AM on November 04, 2016

President Barack Obama cries during a press conference to annonce executive actions intended to expand background checks for some firearm purchases and step up federal enforcement of the nation?s gun laws in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, on January 5 2016. Photo by Olivier Douliery/Sipa USA

President Obama has commuted the sentences of 72 more prisoners, bringing the total count to 944.

Obama has been commuting sentences at rapid-fire pace in his final months, including a batch of 98 last week. All told, Obama has granted 944 people clemency, including 324 who were serving life sentences.

The White House says it’s more than the previous 11 presidents combined.

ABC News reports that almost all of the prisoners getting commutations are nonviolent offenders, although some were found guilty of firearms offenses involved in drug crimes.

An attorney for the White House said the prisoners “had earned a second chance.”

The prisoners will not be set free; they will be released starting in 2017.