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DEFENDER | APRIL 7 | 2016
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President Obama grants clemency to 61 inmates By ZENITHA PRINCE Senior Afro Correspondent
P
resident Obama commuted the sentences of 61 drug offenders, underscoring his administration’s commitment to reforming unfair and overly-harsh sentencing laws. More than one-third of the 61 individuals who were granted clemency were serving life sentences, according to White House Counsel Neil Eggleston. To highlight his dedication to criminal justice reform and also the rehabilitation and re-integration of ex-offenders, the president shared a meal with people whose sentences were commuted by his administration, and by former presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. “By exercising these presidential powers, I have the chance to show people what a second chance can look President Barack Obama hugs ex-offender Kemba Smith during a meeting with formerly incarcerated individuals who received commutations. like,” Obama said. The president added that listenAdvocates of criminal justice reform praised Obama’s ing to the stories of the former prisoners “reminded me of efforts. how out of proportion and counterproductive so much of our Tennessee Congressman Steve Cohen, ranking sentencing is when it comes to our drug laws. member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the “It does not make sense for a non-violent drug offender Constitution and Civil Justice, called the commutations an to be getting 20 years, 30 years, in some cases life in prison,” “encouraging development” and “a significant step” toward he added. “That’s not serving anybody. That’s not serving a “more rational and fair justice system for Americans who taxpayers. It’s not serving public safety. And it’s damaging are incarcerated.” families.” “Not only do our nation’s outdated drug laws disproThe commutations bring to 248 the number of individuportionately affect minority populations, but it also costs als whom President Obama has granted clemency, more than more than $30,000 per year to incarcerate each individual. the previous six presidents combined, according to the White These people need to be returned to their families and House. society,” he added. “I hope the president continues his “But we’re not done, and we’re going to keep on workefforts to commute unjust sentences during his remaining on this until I leave,” Obama said. ing time in office.”
Supreme Court upholds ‘one-person, one-vote’ The United States Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, ruled to uphold the “one-person, one-vote standard” disputed in Evenwel v. Abbott. The ruling maintains Texas’ current system for drawing legislative districts so they are roughly equal in population. The ruling is considered a victory for legislators – primarily Democrats – who represent districts with significant populations of people who are not eligible to vote. In the ruling, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg focused on U.S. history and longstanding practices allowing states to divide districts by total population. “Our nation’s ‘one-person, one-vote’ principle is at the very heart of American democracy,” said Hous-
ton Congressman Gene Green. “The Founding Fathers understood this and enshrined in our Constitution that congressional districts be allocated by total number of people. Today’s unanimous decision by the U.S. Supreme Court makes clear that every person living in our country deserves equal representation in Congress, regardless of race, language, or age. “The fight for equal access to the ballot box is not over, however, and I will continue to push for Congress to reauthorize the Voting Rights Act and ensure that all Americans, regardless of their income or background, have an equal opportunity to vote,” Green said.
FERGUSON, MO. named a new police chief, Delrish Moss. He is a veteran Miami police officer with two decades of experience, and community members hope he will help the St. Louis suburb heal as it rebounds from the fatal 2014 police shooting of Michael Brown. Moss, who is Black, will be in charge of a mostly white department that serves a town where African-Americans make up two-thirds of the residents. The shooting of Brown prompted months of unrest that sometimes grew violent and helped spark the national Black Lives Matter movement. Moss, 51, grew up in Miami’s inner-city Overtown neighborhood and as a teenager lived through rioting after white police officers fatally beat a Black motorcyclist in 1980…….. MORE THAN 50 CITY and county governments from 28 states, together with the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the National League of Cities and the mayors of Dallas, Knoxville, and Orlando, signed an amicus brief explaining why the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan is critical to the safety and economic security of local communities across the United States. “The nation’s mayors are pleased to join in the defense of the Clean Power Plan, which is an essential part of our nation’s ability to respond to climate change,” said Baltimore Mayor Stephanie RawlingsBlake, president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. “This plan will significantly cut carbon pollution from U.S. power plants; we must implement it now,” she said……..THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION released a report highlighting the efforts of colleges and universities to promote access, opportunity and success among low-income students, and identifying areas of much-needed improvement. The report, “Fulfilling the Promise, Serving the Need: Advancing College Opportunity for Low-Income Students,” also recognizes the important role many community colleges play in serving more than 40 percent of the nation’s undergraduates.
VOLUME 85 • NUMBER 23 APRIL 7, 2016
Publisher Sonceria Messiah-Jiles Advertising/Client Relations Selma Dodson Tyler Social|Online Editor LaGloria Wheatfall Art Director Tony Fernandez-Davila
Print Editor Marilyn Marshall Sports Editors Max Edison Darrell K. Ardison
Contributing writers Jasemine Knowles Amber Vernon
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