Effective USA Today coverage of President Obama’s clemency stinginess

Yesterday’s edition of USA Today had a pair of pieces (and this reprinted graphis) discussing federal clemency realities, which effectively stressed the significant fact that President Obama has received a huge number of clemency requests while having granted not a single one during his first 16+ months in the Oval Office.  One piece, which is headlined “Record number seek president’s clemency,” starts this way:

President Obama has received more petitions for pardons and shorter prison sentences than previous presidents at this point in office, and he hasn’t approved a single one. 

Obama has already logged 2,361 clemency petitions, according to the Justice Department.  He also faces a backlog of 2,173 old requests, a legacy of a system that civil rights groups and conservative jurists say has fallen into disuse.

A related piece, which is headlined “Convict petitions Obama to reduce crack penalty,” highlights the story of, Kenneth Harvey, just one of thousands of offenders hoping that President Obama will give his pledge of hope and change a little more meaning in this context. Here is a brief segment from that piece:

Harvey’s family wants him back home — and they thought when Barack Obama got elected president, they’d have a shot. Now, they’re not so sure.

Obama has not approved a single request for a pardon or a shorter prison sentence since he took office, despite having more petitions before him — 2,361 according to the Justice Department — than any previous president at this point in his term.

The White House won’t discuss the issue, other than to say Obama has asked Justice to review how it processes petitions and makes recommendations.

As regular readers know, I have been urging President Obama to exercise his clemency power with vigor since literally his very first day in the Oval Office (as evidenced by some of the posts linked below).  Though I remain deeply disappointed at the lack of action by the President in this setting, I am perhaps even more disappointed by the lack of criticism concerning the Obama Administration’s failings in this historically significant setting.

Some related posts:

• Is it too early to start demanding President Obama use his clemency power?
• Historical evidence that it is NOT too early to start demanding clemencies from President Obama
• When will President Obama start acting like President Lincoln when it comes to the clemency power?
• Commentary on how celebrity status effects clemency commitments
• Inaugural rhetoric about freedom and liberty in prison nation
• “Grandmother Will Mark President’s Day By Petitioning Obama To Commute Her 27-Year Prison Sentence For Non-Violent Crime”
• Obama as Scrooge: no Christmas clemency grants
• Fitting complaints about an ugly clemency scoreboard: “Turkeys 2, humans 0”
• The true sentencing turkeys on this Thanksgiving eve
• Justified complaints that Obama’s first pardon will be of a turkey
• “President Barack Obama proving stingy with his pardon power”
• Notable press stories noting Obama’s lack of clemency action
• A simple plea for Prez Obama: grant at least a single clemency in your first 100 days
• “Obama should exercise the pardon power”
• Fascinating report on backstory behind presidential pardon problems