King Obama just decreed new clemency standards that effect those caught up in the draconian mandatory sentencing laws to fight drug crime. It was the Republican tough on crime campaign that again, proved to be not just unfair, but outrageously expensive.
Tea party Republicans are now outraged again over Obama's presidential overreach, despite his constitutional power make
such changes.
Vox: Conservative commentators and House Judiciary Committee chair Bob Goodlatte attacked
the Obama administration for using executive power to solicit applications for
commutation from inmates. They argued that Congress has the power to set
punishments for federal crimes, and the executive branch doesn't have the power
to change those punishments for particular criminals. Goodlatte accused Obama
of "blatant disregard for our nation's laws and our system of checks and
balances embedded in the U.S. Constitution."
The problem is that the Constitution does give the president
broad power to issue pardons and commutations — there's no constitutional
requirement that the office of the pardon attorney even exist, or that the
president use it. The Heritage Foundation refers to the pardon power as
"one of the least limited powers granted to the President in the
Constitution."
Here's a great explanation from
Rachel Maddow that details how Reagan gave us overcrowded prisons with tough on crime mandatory sentencing.
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