In an effort to reduce the Federal prison population, the Department of Justice has begun a clemency initiative. This initiative offers non-violent offenders, who had been sentenced to long prison terms as part of the “war on drugs,” the opportunity to seek early release.
This initiative began late last year, when President Obama granted commutations to prisoners facing life imprisonment for offenses such as “conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine.”
To be considered under the program, inmates must meet the following criteria:
1) currently serving a federal sentence in prison and, by operation of law, likely would have received a substantially lower sentence if convicted of the same offense(s) today;
2) non-violent, low-level offenders without significant ties to large scale criminal organizations, gangs or cartels;
3) served at least 10 years of their prison sentence;
4) do not have a significant criminal history;
5) have demonstrated good conduct in prison; and
6) have no history of violence prior to or during their current term of imprisonment.
These factors make the purpose of the program self-evident; non-violent offenders with otherwise clean records, who were sentenced under mandatory minimums or other harsh drug laws, may now seek to have those sentences commuted.
If you or a loved one need assistance under this new program, please be in touch.
