Obama's Containment Policy

Last Tuesday, Obama issued 22 commutations for imprisoned individuals counted with distribution and/or possession of illegal drugs and lessened the severity of their sentences. All of those convicted had received sentences of at least 20 years in prison, eight of whom had been been convicted for life, and included 13 cases involving distribution/possession of crack-cocaine, three cases involving meth and even a case involving possession with intent to distribute marijuana. The commutations have been granted as a result of a stricter clemency policy from the Obama Administration, which totals Obama’s commutations given to 43, 40 of which have been given for drug crimes.

So what does this do? Yes, it means that there are 22 people who have been convicted for drug crimes who are back on our street, but the issue with such an ideology is that it doesn’t realize the extreme imbalance regarding those applying for re-sentencing under retroactivity laws versus those who are currently being convicted of the same crimes today, under a revised legal system offering less severe sentences.

Basically, the people who were granted the commutations by Obama received sentences decided under outdated judicial policies. Since Obama has been in office, he’s actually been working to fix this by passing the Fair Sentencing Act a year after he was inaugurated. This act would work to even-out the disparity between crack and powder cocaine that was needed to trigger certain criminal offenses. For example, if I have a gram of crack, before the act was passed, I would’ve been sentenced to a far longer sentence than if I’d had a gram of coke.

The only issue with this is that the act doesn’t strongly enough address being retroactive, which means that it has little to no effect on people who’d had a gram of crack 10 years ago and are still in prison for it.

Essentially, Obama is trying to do as much as he can to even out the playing field for criminals sentenced to prison for drug crimes because Congress isn’t doing anything about the issue.

While the Smarter Sentencing Act, which was passed only this year, did make the 2010 Act retroactive, this was after other amendments, which diluted its original objective, were added to the bill.

Even so, there are still over 200,000 drug-related incarcerations issued under a dated system that hasn’t let prisoners apply for re-sentencing, while they literally watch murderers and robbers start and finish their sentences, like in the case of Francis Hayden, who was arrested for possession with intent to distribute a kilogram of marijuana.

The broken system only favors the rich while contributing to the oppression of people of lower socio-economic classes, particularly people of color. The bill’s passing only lets Congress say, “Hey! We passed something!” when the reality is that they get to hide behind a thicker facade that makes it look like they’re doing something, while the policies still favors  the white upper class.

So this is good. The White House is sending a message that says, “C ongress, if you can’t get your act together, we’re going to grant these mercies one-by-one until you do. You’re wasting your time trying to tip-toe around this issue. Get to work.”

While this specific instance relates specifically to misrepresentation of classes in regards to drug-sentences, this Executive-Legislative power struggle has been the defining  battle involving the Obama administration for the past seven years, and it always goes the same way: Obama wants to get something passed (ie. Affordable Care Act), Congress strips it down to the bare minimum until they can just barely call it Obama’s bill, and they pass it. It’s ineffective, egotistical and it doesn’t work.

So, kudos, White House, for finally losing your patience. It’s a shame it took seven years.

But I suppose better late then never. The White House is working to even the playing field over drug sentences while Congress delays. People are growing impatient with Congress, and these commutations only let Obama better illustrate that drug-sentence-imbalance is still an issue, and that it’s still not being passed, particularly because of Congress. I only hope that 2016 doesn’t bring a President slave to Congress’s whims. That would only mean eight years down the drain. Whether or not you support Obama’s policies, these commutations outline the broader problem of an socio-economically imbalanced judiciary which is not being helped by Congress’s lack of motivation to do their jobs effectively and pass bills, and of that we cannot lose sight.