Apparently this is high up on their priority list.
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department wants low-level drug criminals who were sentenced under tough laws from the days of the crack epidemic to ask the president for early release from prison.
In an unprecedented move, Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole on Thursday asked defense lawyers to help the government locate prisoners and encourage them to apply for clemency.
The clemency drive is part of the Obama administration’s effort to undo a disparity that flooded the nation’s prison system and disproportionately affected black men.
Offenses involving crack, which was more commonly used in black communities, carried more severe penalties than crimes involving powder cocaine, which was usually favored by affluent white users. In some cases, crack crimes resulted in a 100-to-1 sentencing disparity.
Congress reduced that disparity in 2010. In December, President Obama commuted the sentences of eight federal inmates who were convicted of crack sentences under the old rules.
“There are more low-level, non-violent drug offenders who remain in prison, and who would likely have received a substantially lower sentence if convicted of precisely the same offenses today,” Mr. Cole said at a New York State Bar Association event Thursday. “This is not fair, and it harms our criminal justice system.”
By asking defense lawyers to solicit names for clemency consideration, the Justice Department is setting up a crush of applications to its pardon unit, which already faces a backlog and receives thousands of new requests each year.
HT: Brian