Earlier this month, President Barack Obama granted clemency to 72 people incarcerated on the federal level, shortening their sentences. Obama has granted a total of 944 people clemency over his presidency.
Most of these people were convicted of drug-related, nonviolent crimes. Second-year student at University of Cincinnati College of Law, Ariel Guggisberg, helped draft the clemency petition for one of the prisoners whose sentence was commuted.
Once out of jail, individuals with felonies on their records have a difficult time finding work. Stephen Johnsongrove, senior staff attorney at the Ohio Justice and Policy Center, was instrumental in writing and pushing through a Fair Hiring statute and policy that gives workers with criminal records a fair chance at civil service and engagement in their communities.
Ariel and Stephen join us today to talk about clemency and how to reintegrate people who have been incarcerated back into society.