APNewsBreak: Clemency after 10 years in prison
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department will begin considering clemency applications from nonviolent federal inmates who have already served 10 years or more in prison.
That's according to a person familiar with an expected announcement from the department Wednesday laying out conditions under which convicts can seek to have their sentences shortened. It's part of a broader Obama administration effort to trim the prison population and ease sentencing disparities involving drug crimes.
The person said the clemency effort would apply to low-level, nonviolent offenders who have already served at least 10 years, among other criteria. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the announcement hadn't been made.
The person said the Justice Department has identified more than 23,000 people serving sentences of at least 10 years.
