President Obama Commuted More Prison Sentences Today, and Shattered a Presidential Record

Vacation in Hawaii didn't stop President Obama from announcing today that he had commuted the sentences of 153 federal prisoners and pardoned 78 others, the most ever in a single day. The grand total of sentences shortened during his presidency now stands at a whopping 1,176.

whitehouse.gov

Most of the prisoners involved were serving time for nonviolent drug offenses. A policy Obama implemented two years ago meant he could chip away at the number of federal inmates serving time for what the Justice Department felt were penalties too harsh for the drug crimes. It's part of Obama's overall push for criminal justice reform.

White House counsel Neil Eggleston outlined why these particular prisoners were selected:

While each clemency recipient’s story is unique, the common thread of rehabilitation underlies all of them. For the pardon recipient, it is the story of an individual who has led a productive and law-abiding post-conviction life, including by contributing to the community in a meaningful way.

Here's Obama in a photo from March 30th, when he commuted the sentences of 63 prisoners—and had lunch with a handful of other formerly incarcerated individuals now living a life of freedom following their commutations:

Obama speaks to the media with formerly incarcerated individuals who have received commutations, at Bus Boys and Poets restaurant on March 30, 2016 in Washington, D.C. Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images

One of the people pardoned today was Benjamin Ramos, who was involved in stealing baseball cards from actor Charlie Sheen in 2000. Another is a former Freedom Rider.

The White House has said that today's clemencies and commutations likely won't be the last before the president leaves office. He's still sifting through thousands and thousands more requests.

Obama is currently three days into his annual Hawaiian family getaway; on Monday, he played his second round of vacation golf.