Reuters: Civil rights groups want White House clemency for more inmates released in pandemic
…
The clemency initiative is an attempt to prevent the return to prison of some 4,800 federal inmates who were releasedearly due to the pandemic emergency, as the Bureau of Prisons scrambled to slow transmission rates in its facilities.
The 29 advocacy groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the Justice Action Network and FAMM - a group that opposes mandatory minimum sentences - are not alone in questioning the return of so many people to prison: U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland has raised the same concerns.
…
But criminal justice advocates said they believe just a tiny fraction will be eligible, since federal drug convictions carry steep mandatory minimum sentences.
"We argued for the entire population to get clemency. In response, they came back with this very, very narrow solution," said Inimai Chettiar, a director at the Justice Action Network, which advocates for criminal justice reforms.