For Cut 50:
The history of federal mandatory minimum sentencing for drug offenses dates back to the 1950s, when a mandatory 10-year sentence could be imposed for crimes such as selling heroin to a juvenile.
In the 60s, then-President Richard Nixon proposed sentencing reforms that would eventually result in nearly all mandatory minimum penalties for drug offenses being repealed. But the alarming rise of cocaine use, particularly crack cocaine, in the 1980s sent Congress scrambling to react to the epidemic and prompted the hasty revival of the laws that had been viewed so unfavorably two decades before.
Though the primary goal of legislation such as The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 was to target and successfully prosecute "kingpins" or major drug traffickers, thousands of low-level offenders have been swept up and imprisoned based on outdated guidelines.
As bipartisan support for criminal justice reform continues to rise, for many already stuck in the system the only way to freedom is a presidential pardon, clemency, or commutation.
DENIED CLEMENCY: Crystal Munoz: sentenced to 19 years and 10 months in 2007 for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana. Munoz, 38, has two daughters.
DENIED CLEMENCY: Nancy Furneau was let out of solitary confinement to pose for a photo, alleged put in the SHU for unruly behavior which she denies.
DENIED CLEMENCY: Rita Becerra: sentenced to 27 years in 1994 for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Becerra, 66, has one son, one daughter, and four grandchildren. Her clemency petition was denied in 2016. This was her first offense.
DENIED CLEMENCY: Rose Ella Summers: sentenced to 24 years and four months in 1997 for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and money laundering. Summers, 47, has one son. This was her first offense.
GRANTED CLEMENCY: Sharanda Jones was sentenced to life in prison without parole in 1999 for conspiracy to traffic cocaine. This was her first offense. Jones was granted clemency by President Obama in 2015. Jones is seen here at a Texas halfway house just weeks before her full release.
GRANTED CLEMENCY: Sharanda Jones posing outside of her Dallas apartment after being free thanks for a clemency from then President Obama
GRANTED CLEMENCY: Deneise Quintanilla: sentenced to to life in 2001 for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Quintanilla, 49, has two sons and one daughter. She was granted clemency by President Obama in 2017.
GRANTED CLEMENCY: Deneise Quintanilla walks out of Carswell Prison after receiving clemency from then-President Obama.
GRANTED CLEMENCY: Jason Hernandez was a first time nonviolent drug offender when he received a mandatory minimum sentence of life in prison for conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine. He served 17 years before his sentence was commuted by President Obama on December 19, 2013. Posing in front of his brother's grave, who was murdered in prison.
GRANTED CLEMENCY: Tim was supposed to die in prison. At 24 years old, he was given two life sentences for selling LSD. But after 26 years behind bars, Tim became a free man thanks to a clemency granted by President Obama. On May 29, 2018 Tim walked out of prison in Jesup, GA and began the over 2,000 mile bus ride to Las Vegas, NV to be reunited with his sister Carrie who worked tirelessly for his release all these years.
GRANTED CLEMENCY: Michelle Miles was a first time nonviolent drug offender when she received a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years in prison for conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute heroin and cocaine base. She served 19 years before receiving clemency from President Obama.