Clemency and Pardon

Obama has now commuted more sentences than the last nine presidents combined, but there are still nearly 18,000 commutation applications pending, and the clock is ticking.

Obama commutes more drug sentences, Boston gets its first dispensary, more signs of how horrid South Dakota is on marijuana, Utah SWAT deployment data, and more.

President Obama keeps chipping away at the federal drug prisoner population, Weldon Angelos finally goes free, yet another poll has a national majority for marijuana legalization, the new Filipino president encourages vigilante violence against drug dealers, and more.

More than 17,000 federal drug war prisoners have clemency applications pending under a Justice Department program, but with Obama's term coming to an end, the clock is ticking.

The president has commuted sentences for another 61 federal drug offenders, Maine legalizers are fighting to get their signatures validated and their initiative on the ballot, a South Carolina town pays out big for the death of a local teen in a small-time pot bust, and more.

DC's leading legalization advocate reschedules 4/20 to protest Obama's inaction.

Christmas came early for nearly a hundred federal drug war prisoners as President Obama commuted their sentences. He has now commuted more sentences than the last five presidents combined.

As the year winds down, we look back on the big stories in drug policy, from marijuana reform to climbing fatal overdose levels to sentencing reforms and beyond.

The omnibus budget bill approved by Congress today includes several drug policy provisions, the president commutes the sentences of 93 drug war prisoners, Iranian parliamentarians move to end the death penalty for non-violent drug smuggling offenses, and more.

The president is calling for the reduction or elimination of mandatory minimum sentences, the removal of barriers to reentry, and more.