Deputy Attorney General Sally Q. Yates Statement on the President’s Recent Clemency Decisions

Deputy Attorney General Sally Q. Yates released the following statement after President Obama granted commutation of sentence to 98 individuals:

“Today’s clemency grants to another 98 federal inmates who were sentenced under outdated drug laws are part of our ongoing commitment to bring fairness to our criminal justice system.  These grants reflect the Department’s accelerated progress in prioritizing and reviewing petitions that fit the President’s Clemency Initiative.  As we’ve said before, the Department of Justice remains committed to reviewing and providing a recommendation on every petition submitted by August 31 of this year that involves a drug crime.  And we will continue to prioritize the review any drug related petitions that have been submitted since that time.”