“Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders have both rooted their appeal to black voters on promises to address the over-incarceration of federal narcotics prisoners. Everyone from the Congressional Black Caucus to the Koch brothers supports this cause.
“The candidates’ ideas to counter over-incarceration appear solely to depend on congressional action, rather than direct executive action. They aren’t running for Congress, though, and this is an issue where the stroke of the president’s pen can have an immediate impact. The next president can follow President Barack Obama‘s blueprint and strategically use the power to pardon to release currently non-violent, low risk prisoners serving time for drug offenses.”