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Obama Grants Clemency to 231 Prisoners in Single Day

HeadlineDec 20, 2016

On Monday, President Obama granted clemency to 231 prisoners—the most individual acts of clemency granted in a single day by any president in U.S. history. Obama pardoned 78 people and shortened the sentence of 153 others convicted of federal crimes. Obama has now pardoned a total of 148 people during his presidency and has shortened the sentences of 1,176 people, including 395 serving life sentences, as part of a push to reduce the number of people serving long sentences for nonviolent drug offenses. But he still hasn’t offered clemency or pardons to some high-profile political prisoners, including Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning or Native American activist Leonard Peltier.

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