By Michael Hernandez
WASHINGTON (AA) – President Barack Obama ordered 111 commutations Tuesday, adding to the 214 already issued ordered in August alone, the White House said.
To date, Obama has granted 673 commutations, or the shortening of a criminal sentence, with 325 of them coming in this month.
Approximately one-third, 35, of those who received commutations Tuesday were serving life sentences.
White House counsel Neil Eggleston said Obama’s orders “underscore the president’s commitment to using his clemency authority to provide a second chance to deserving individuals.
“We must remember that these are individuals -- sons, daughters, parents, and in many cases, grandparents -- who have taken steps toward rehabilitation and who have earned their second chance,” he wrote in a blog post. “They are individuals who received unduly harsh sentences.”
Most of those granted a commutation were serving sentences for non-violent drug offenses, Eggleston wrote. Obama has now granted more commutations than the past 10 presidents combined, according to the White House.
He will likely continue to grant commutations throughout the end of his term, Eggleston said, but stressed the need for bipartisan criminal justice reform.
“Only the passage of legislation can achieve the broader reforms needed to ensure our federal sentencing system operates more fairly and effectively in the service of public safety,” he wrote.