President Trump today commuted the sentence of Alice Johnson who has been in prison for about 20 years. She was convicted of a non-violent drug offense in the 1990s. She's in her mid 60s and has been a model prisoner.
This is not something that ought to be big news. The President let an old black woman out of federal prison. She's not dangerous; in fact, her crime was non-violent. She's served plenty of time in prison. Now, she's getting a second chance.
On social media, however, the reality doesn't matter. The President is being criticized for the commutation being a political stunt designed just to win black voters to his cause. There is also criticism because Trump was lobbied to use his pardon power by Kim Kardashian; somehow, that makes the action suspect, although the complaints never explain why that is.
This commutation of Johnson's sentence seems to be just the sort of thing for which a president ought to use his pardon power. The prisoner is elderly and non-violent and has spent decades in prison for a non-violent crime. What possible policy would be served by keeping her in prison for the next 40 years? Normally, one would expect that she would already have been paroled, but because of the law in place at the time of her conviction, no parole is possible at this point.
This is not something that ought to be big news. The President let an old black woman out of federal prison. She's not dangerous; in fact, her crime was non-violent. She's served plenty of time in prison. Now, she's getting a second chance.
On social media, however, the reality doesn't matter. The President is being criticized for the commutation being a political stunt designed just to win black voters to his cause. There is also criticism because Trump was lobbied to use his pardon power by Kim Kardashian; somehow, that makes the action suspect, although the complaints never explain why that is.
This commutation of Johnson's sentence seems to be just the sort of thing for which a president ought to use his pardon power. The prisoner is elderly and non-violent and has spent decades in prison for a non-violent crime. What possible policy would be served by keeping her in prison for the next 40 years? Normally, one would expect that she would already have been paroled, but because of the law in place at the time of her conviction, no parole is possible at this point.
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