On January 30, 2014, Deputy Attorney General James Cole solicited the assistance of the nation’s bar to help the Justice Department identify federal prisoners who, if sentenced today under current sentencing laws and policies, would likely have received a substantially lower sentence. In addition, Mr. Cole expressed the hope that attorneys would volunteer to assist potential candidates in assembling effective, appropriate and focused commutation petitions for consideration by the Department of Justice and the President.
In response, a number of organizations that have long worked for sentencing reform, including the Federal Defenders, the ACLU, FAMM, the ABA and NACDL have formed Clemency Project 2014. Read this statement for more information.
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