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GUEST: Molly Gill, Director of Commutation Project of Families Against Mandatory Minimums

As President Bush approaches the end of his 8 year long tenure, thousands of prisoners who have petitioned for a presidential pardon are awaiting his decisions. Bush has distinguished himself by denying more pardon and clemency petitions than any post-World War II president. According to the New York Times, in his first seven years in office, he rejected nearly 6,000 requests, almost twice as many as Bill Clinton did in eight years. Meanwhile, the Pardon Attorney under Bush, Roger Adams, has come under fire for mismanagement and racism. Under his watch, thousands of clemency requests have been backlogged. Some among those petitioners are members of FAMM, or Families Against Mandatory Minimums. FAMM has now called on Congress to immediately investigate the breakdown at the Office of the Pardon Attorney and ask in-coming US Attorney General Michael Mukasey how he intends to fix it.

Read the New York Times’ Op-Ed, Begging Bush’s Pardon at: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/04/opinion/04lardner.html

For more information, visit www.famm.org.