WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama on Wednesday shortened the sentences for 214 federal prisoners.
According to The Associated Press, it is the most commutations made by a president in a single day in more than a century.
Officials said that almost all the inmates were serving time for nonviolent drug offenses and that 67 of them were serving life sentences. These new commutations bring the total number of sentences Obama has shortened during his time in office to 562-- more than the past nine presidents combined.
White House counsel Neil Eggleston told the news outlet that Obama will continue to grant clemency to more inmates in his final months as President. Eggleston claims that those receiving commutations were imprisoned under harsh and out-of-date sentencing laws.
Most of the inmates commuted on Wednesday will be released on December 1.
Officer.com will provide more information on this story as it becomes available.
