"Grandmother Will Mark President's Day By Petitioning Obama To Commute Her 27-Year Prison Sentence For Non-Violent Crime"

The title of this post is the headline of this new press release from the ACLU.  Here are excerpts from the release, which provides the backstory of a remarkable case, that appears to be the kick-off for a remarkable new project:

Hamedah Hasan, a mother and grandmother serving her 17th year of a 27-year federal prison sentence for a non-violent crime, asked President Obama today to commute her remaining sentence. Hasan's petition was filed with the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of the Pardon Attorney, and was accompanied by almost 50 letters of support from prison chaplains, community members, advocates, friends and family. The American Civil Liberties Union represents Hasan in her commutation petition....

In an unusual display of support for a commutation petition by a federal judge, the Honorable Richard G. Kopf, U.S. District of Nebraska, who sentenced Hasan in 1993, wrote a letter to the Department of Justice Pardon Attorney's Office. In it, Judge Kopf said, "…I can say, without equivocation, that Ms. Hasan is deserving of the President's mercy. I have never supported such a request in the past, and I doubt that I will support another one in the future. That said, in this unique case, justice truly cries out for relief."...

President Obama, Vice President Biden and Attorney General Holder have publicly called for equalization of federal sentences for crack and powder cocaine, and the U.S. Sentencing Commission has called for reform of the crack-powder sentencing disparity four times. President Obama's "Blueprint for Change," published soon after he was elected in 2008, stated, "...the disparity between sentencing crack and powder-based cocaine is wrong and should be completely eliminated."...

Hasan's petition is the first of several in a larger project, dubbed "Dear Mr. President, Yes You Can."  The Dear Mr. President Project brings together civil rights advocates, legal scholars, law school clinics, pro bono counsel and others to urge President Obama to depart from the practices of his immediate predecessors and use the pardon and commutation power in a principled way, consistent with his administration's position that the crack Sentencing Guidelines have been far too harsh.  The Project also aims to promote the president's clemency power as a means to correct historical injustices.

Baylor Law School professor and former federal prosecutor Mark Osler, who is a founding member of the Project, noted, "President Obama has gone 387 days (and counting) without granting a single pardon or commutation.  This makes him one of the slowest-acting presidents in history to exercise the power of forgiveness.  Thomas Jefferson employed the pardon power to eliminate the sentences of those convicted under the shameful Alien and Sedition Acts.  President John F. Kennedy granted over 100 commutations in less than three years in office.  President Lyndon Johnson commuted 226 sentences. It's time for President Obama to revive the noble and necessary function of executive clemency in Hamedah Hasan's case."

Hasan is the mother of three daughters, Kamyra, 16, to whom Hasan gave birth in prison, Ayesha, 21, and Kasaundra, 26. Hasan also has two grandchildren.  Hasan's commutation petition materials are available at: www.dearmrpresidentyesyoucan.org  

Awesome stuff here, and I am hopeful (though sadly not especially optimistic) that this campaign might finally help President Obama do something about his truly shameful clemency record to date.  At the very least, I hope that this "Dear Mr. President Project" will lead prompt the media to start taking more note of President Obama truly shameful clemency record to date.

Some related recent posts on federal clemency realities:

• 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
• 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?
• "The Fall of the Presidential Pardon"