As part of recent efforts to reduce the federal prison population, the United States Department of Justice has created new criteria for filing for clemency and sentence commutation, making it easier for nonviolent federal prisoners to receive clemency or a commutation of their sentence. The new criteria will help the Justice Department identify federal prisoners who may be able to have their prison sentence reduced, potentially making them eligible for immediate release. This is a way to restore justice to those individuals that do not pose a threat to the public. The Justice Department is purportedly seeking to consider the petitions of as many qualified applicants as possible.

Based on the new clemency requirements, federal prisoners must meet the following criteria in order to file for  clemency. They must:

• be serving a federal sentence;

• be serving a sentence that, if imposed today, would be substantially shorter;

• have a non-violent history with no significant ties to organized crime, gangs or cartels;

• have served at least 10 years;

• have no significant prior convictions;

• and have demonstrated good conduct.

Clemency should not only be limited to these parameters because there are other federal prisoners who sentences are extremely harsh when considering the crimes for which they were convicted. Federal sentencing laws have broken up families and deprived the country of millions, if not billions, of dollars due to the cost of incarceration. Too many people have been locked up far too long for nonviolent crimes. These new criteria are a great step towards moving to reduce the federal prison population; however, many other options need to be explored in order to reduce the prison population and achieve true justice with regard to the fair sentencing of criminal defendants.

For more information on the Justice Department and their reasoning behind the new criteria, check out my blog: http://www.bayarea-attorney.com/justice-department-making-it-easier-to-file-for-clemency