Cell Block 
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Obama grants clemency to federal drug offenders amid push for sentencing reform.

President Barack Obama commuted the sentences of 61 individuals incarcerated in federal prison for nonviolent drug crimes Wednesday, according to a White House press release.

These clemency grants follow 142 commutations Obama granted to federal drug offenders in 2015.

The Obama administration has been facing an increasing amount of pressure to decrease the number of nonviolent offenders serving long mandatory minimum sentences in federal prison.

Congress is also facing pressure to reduce nonviolent drug-crime incarceration rates by passing mandatory minimum sentencing reform laws.

Advocates want Senate leader Mitch McConnell to move a sentencing reform bill forward for a full vote on the Senate floor, which would reduce mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses.

The Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act would also expand the federal “safety valve” to give judges more discretion to sentence offenders below the statutory minimum guidelines, and would expand prisoner reentry programming and early release qualifications.

“The President is using his constitutional power, but he can only do so much,” Michael Collins, deputy director at Drug Policy Alliance said in a release. “There is legislation in the Senate that would reduce mandatory minimums and have a greater impact on the prison population, and Leader McConnell needs to bring the bill up for a vote.”

Per DPA:
As the nation is calling for a more compassionate response to people struggling with addictions, advocates are pushing the Obama administration and Congress to right the wrongs of failed drug war tactics.