PRESIDENT OBAMA HAS commuted the unjust prison sentences of hundreds of federal prisoners, mostly for nonviolent drug violations. Unfortunately, there is no evidence that he intends to take action to free prisoners in politically charged cases.
Leonard Peltier’s conviction in the 1975 deaths of two FBI agents, during a confrontation with the American Indian Movement, was highly dubious and the government admitted decades ago that it doesn’t know who the actual killers were. An Amnesty International petition for clemency can be found online at http://bit.ly/2b64aFx.
It seems even less likely that the president will act to free Chelsea Manning, who was driven to a suicide attempt at Fort Leavenworth, or pardon John Kiriakou who served a 30-month sentence for the “crime” of exposing the use of waterboarding in the torture of terrorism suspects. The Obama presidency will pass into history with a legacy of more ”espionage” trials than any other administration in U.S. history.
Amnesty for victims of injustice at the state and federal level is long overdue!
September-October 2016, ATC 184