![]() Already involved in mentorship programs at the prison, he also assisted in monitoring and speaking to inmates placed on suicide watch. He proudly recalls the hard-back binder with blue covers he took such care in arranging. In his application, he wanted to show that “I made a bad decision as a kid, but I didn’t deserve to die in prison for it.”īeyond the formal application, Hernandez created a portfolio with essays, letters of support (including one from his arresting officer), personal histories, and examples of the rehabilitative and educational programs he’d undergone while in prison. The judge at my sentencing didn’t want to give me life without parole, but he had to,” Hernandez said. “The guidelines that I was sentenced under were ruled unconstitutional in 2005. In practice, that meant more severe sentences to people of color who used crack and much lighter sentences to white cocaine users. ![]() Offenders in the 1980s and 90s received lighter sentences if the drug involved was powder cocaine and not crack cocaine. “Even though I had sold a fair amount of drugs, the only reason my sentence was so severe was because I sold crack cocaine as opposed to powder cocaine,” he said. Hernandez fashioned an argument for clemency focused on having been a nonviolent offender whose crime did not involve gangs, guns, or links to cartels. He also took up reading judges’ opinions that offered their perspectives on the War on Drugs, and its unbalanced sentencing guidelines. “I was what was known as a jailhouse attorney,” he said, while recalling the types of forms he’d help others file, like direct appeals, motions for reduction of sentences, and inmate grievances. Fellow inmates laughed at him for pursuing the application “because the chances of me getting it were like hitting the lottery twice,” he said.īut Hernandez, now 39, had done something while in prison that would ultimately help him create a successful application: He’d studied law through correspondence paralegal courses. “I know your odds decrease greatly if you are a minority drug offender and if you are serving life without parole,” he said. He was convinced that the odds were stacked against him in a sea of thousands of applications. “I just wanted to do something more than that because I felt that my case needed more than your average eight-page application,” he said. But filling out the basic information seemed insufficient to him. Hernandez picked up a clemency application at the library of the federal corrections institution in El Reno, Oklahoma. The story of how he landed among the “Obama Eight,” an early group of prisoners granted clemency in 2013, sheds light on the president’s unprecedented emphasis on the issue. He was sentenced to life in prison for dealing drugs in his Texas neighborhood when he was 21 today, he is free. Over his two terms, Obama has commuted the sentences of 1,385 people and granted 212 pardons.Jason Hernandez knows the overwhelming joy and relief of hearing that an application for clemency has been accepted. Obama pardoned 64 other people on Tuesday and shortened the sentences of 209 prisoners - Snowden was not among them. "Thank you for what you did for everyone, Chelsea. "In five more months, you will be free," Snowden tweeted. Snowden declared his support for Manning on Twitter. ![]() Snowden fled into the arms of an adversary, and has sought refuge in a country that most recently made a concerted effort to undermine confidence in our democracy." "Chelsea Manning is somebody who went through the military criminal justice process, was exposed to due process, was found guilty, was sentenced for her crimes, and she acknowledged wrongdoing," Earnest said. Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, told The New York Times on Tuesday that there was a "pretty stark difference" between Manning's case and that of former government employee Edward Snowden, the other recent high-profile US leaker, who has taken asylum in Russia.
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