Click here for printer-friendly version

INTRODUCTION

In a last-minute act of mercy and justice, at 10:30 a.m. on January 20, 2001, his last day in office, President Clinton granted clemency to twenty low-level drug offenders serving long mandatory minimum sentences in Federal prison. These acts of mercy have been overshadowed by the scandal surrounding the President’s simultaneous pardon of two fugitive swindlers, Marc Rich and Pincus Green, and other questionable and controversial persons. At all times since Clinton’s last day in office, no one has questioned the propriety of the commutations that resulted form the Coalition for Jubilee Clemency’s (CJC) campaign.

President Clinton also granted clemencies on two occasions last year. On December 22, 2000, he commuted the sentences of Dorothy Gaines and Kemba Smith, two high-profile cases of women serving decades-long sentences for minor roles in drug offenses. Dorothy’s case was featured in CJC’s sign-on letter campaign.

On July 7, 2000, the President commuted the sentences of Amy Pofahl and Serena Nunn, two similar drug offenders. This came just two days after Pope John Paul II wrote about the significance of the jubilee year: “The Holy Year must be used as a chance to right injustices committed, to mitigate excesses, and to recover what might otherwise be lost . . . I turn with confidence to State authorities to ask for a gesture of clemency [italics in original] towards all those in prison . . .”

The Christmas Eve and end of term clemencies were the goal of the CJC and other campaigns that called for presidential clemencies for low-level, nonviolent drug offenders. The CJC included more than 700 faith leaders from across the U.S. who signed a letter to President Clinton, urging him to release on supervised parole low-level, nonviolent Federal drug offenders who had served at least five years. The campaign was prompted by public awareness that American incarceration had topped two million persons, the jubilee year 2000, and a departing president who would have no political risk in granting clemency to such offenders.

The three goals for the CJC clemency campaign were:

1. To encourage President Clinton to grant clemency to low-level, nonviolent Federal drug offenders, and to create political support for such clemencies.
2. To educate the public about the need for sentencing reform and for presidential clemencies, using the media and outreach to faith organizations.
3. To build a large coalition of support for sentencing reform and presidential clemency with which to advance future sentencing reform and clemency campaigns.

DRUG OFFENDERS GRANTED CLEMENCY DURING CJC CAMPAIGN

The following drug offenders were granted clemency by President Clinton in the final days of his administration. All clemencies were granted on January 20, 2001, except those marked *, which were granted clemency on December 22, 2000. Following the names are dates of sentencing and the length of prison sentences imposed (in italics) for each individual. Please note that some offenders serve months in prison while they await sentencing after their conviction, and, in some cases, while they await trial. There is no parole in the Federal system. The following clemencies were commutation of the prison sentences to time served, leaving in effect the remaining provisions of the sentences, usually four or more years of supervised release, often with a special condition of drug testing during that release. The list below does not include Carlos Vignali, a drug dealer who received a last-minute commutation by Clinton. Vignali was one of the two persons for whom Hugh Rodham, the former president's brother-in-law, received $200,000 for lobbying for clemency petitions. Vignali did not fit the CJC profile of low-level, nonviolent drug offenders for whom CJC advocated presidential clemency.

• Gloria Libia Camargo, 02/22/90, 15 years, 8 months
• Charles F. Campbell, 01/25/94 (modified 12/17/97), 20 years
• Lau Ching Chin, 06/27/90, 17 years, 6 months
• Donald R. Clark, 11/04/94 (modified 12/20/96), 27 years, 5 months
• Loreta De-Ann Coffman, 11/12/93 (modified 06/24/96 and 02/26/98), 85 years
• Derrick Curry, 10/01/93, 19 years, 7 months
• Velinda Desalus, 12/18/92, 10 years
• Loretta Sharon Fish, 12/08/94, 19 years, 7 months
• Antoinette M. Frink, 07/11/89, 15 years, 8 months
• *Dorothy Gaines, 03/10/95, 19 years, 7 months
• Gerard A. Greenfield, 09/09/93, 16 years
• Jodie E. Israel, 02/04/94, 11 years, 3 months
• Kimberly D. Johnson, 01/14/94, 15 years, 8 months
• Billy Thornton Langston, Jr., 09/09/94 (modified in 1996), 27 years
• Belinda Lynn Lumpkin, 03/24/89, 25 years
• Kellie Ann Mann, 01/26/94, 10 years
• Peter Ninemire, 04/26/91, 24 years, 4 months
• Hugh Ricardo Padmore, 10/31/95, 11 years, 3 months
• Pedro Miguel Riveiro, 02/09/95, 8 years, 6 months
• *Kemba Smith, 04/21/94, 24 years, 6 months
• Cory Stringfellow, 07/21/95, 15 years, 8 months
• Kim Allen Willis, 04/20/90, 15 years, 8 months

More information about these commutations is at www.usdoj.gov/opa/commutationspaocht.htm.

PRESS

A major goal of the Coalition for Jubilee Clemency’s sign-on letter campaign was to inform the public, largely through the media, about the need for sentencing reform. In this respect, the campaign was enormously successful. It’s important to note that this media attention was achieved when the press was consumed with closely following the controversy over the November 2000 presidential election, which made getting press coverage challenging. The success of the CJC campaign owes much credit to David Guard and Tony Newman, who worked many hours to gain media exposure for CJC.

The Coalition held a press conference on January 16, 2001, in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill to create a positive media environment for the last-minute commutations. Participants in the press conference included:

• Salt Lake City Mayor “Rocky” Anderson
• Linda Aaron, mother of Clarence Aaron, who is serving three life sentences without parole in Federal prison for a first-time, nonviolent drug offense
• Michael Gelacak, Vice-Chairman and Commissioner, U.S. Sentencing Commission, 1990-1998
• Julie Stewart, President, Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM)
• Eric Sterling, President, Criminal Justice Policy Foundation
• Rev. Bernard “Skip” Keels, Senior Pastor, Newark United Methodist Church, Newark, DE, representing the Coalition for Jubilee Clemency
• Marc Mauer, Assistant Director, The Sentencing Project.

The press conference distributed written statements from Harvard Professor Philip B. Heymann, former Deputy Attorney General in the Clinton Administration, and U.S. Reps. Barney Frank (D-MA) and Donna M. Christian-Christensen (D-VI). Prof. Heymann's statement is available here and Eric Sterling's statement is available here.

Mayor Anderson specifically asked for clemency for Salt Lake City native Cory Stringfellow, whose release generated substantial press in Salt Lake City.

Following is a summary of some of the media coverage of the CJC campaign (a list of all the media reports is too long):

EDITORIALS

• “Nonviolent drug offenders languish in federal prisons.” Norfolk Virginian-Pilot. Nov. 24, 2000. The newspaper called the CJC campaign “a worthwhile cause.” The editorial concludes, it “would be a show of resolve by the next president and Congress to consider thoroughgoing reform of the nation’s drug laws.”
• “Non-violent drug offenders deserve clemency by president.” Episcopal Life. Dec. 2000. This editorial also appeared in the December 2000 issue of Tidings.
• “Mr. Clinton on dope.” Las Vegas Review Journal. Dec. 11, 2000. In response to CJC spokesperson Chad Thevenot’s comment that the president should “start the process by granting clemency in the most egregious cases,” the Review Journal said the president “should heed that advice.”
• “Jubilee Clemency.” Orange County (CA) Register. Dec. 25, 2000. This lengthy editorial is dedicated entirely to CJC’s clemency campaign, extensively quoting our supporting materials on the importance of the issue. The paper concludes: “Do it, Mr. President. You will sleep better if thousands of children have their parents home rather than in prison. And America will be a better country for it.” The editorial was reprinted as an editorial in the Lima (OH) News on Dec. 29, 2000.
• “For mercy’s sake.” Fresno (CA) Bee. Dec. 27, 2000. The editorial concludes: “It’s hard to imagine a better way for Clinton to end his presidency than by dispensing a bit of mercy and fairness.”
• “Clinton, Pataki poke holes in drug laws.” Poughkeepsie (NY) Journal. Dec. 27, 2000. Regarding the CJC campaign, the Journal wrote: “ . . . the coalition has put forth an abundantly fair, yet simple proposal: It would grant supervised parole for low-level, non-violent drug offenders who already have served at least five years in prison. The federal government should give serious consideration to this idea.” The editorial included the CJC’s website address.
• “Harsh drug sentences must be re-examined.” Norfolk Virginian-Pilot. Dec. 28, 2000.

COLUMNS

• Debra J. Saunders. “Why Clinton Should Pardon Dorothy Gaines.” San Francisco Chronicle. Sept. 26, 2000. The column is nationally syndicated.
• Carl M. Cannon. “ . . . Show a Little Mercy.” George magazine. Dec./Jan. 2001. The column featured a letter from and a photograph of Phillip Gaines, the son of Dorothy Gaines, who was featured in the CJC campaign.
• Thom Marshall. “Drug-war reform: a crumbling wall.” Houston Chronicle. Dec. 10, 2000.
• Sean Gonsalves. “Clergy call for clemency.” Cape Cod Times. Dec. 12, 2000.
• Judy Mann. “Mr. President, Show Mercy and Good Sense.” Washington Post. Dec. 15, 2000.
• Sharon Tubbs, “Shall we set the captives free?” St. Petersburg Times. Dec. 18, 2000.
• Debra J. Saunders. “‘Tis the season to free nonviolent drug offenders.” San Francisco Chronicle. Dec. 20, 2000. The column is nationally syndicated.
• Joanne Jacobs. “Seeking clemency for nonviolent offenders.” San Jose Mercury News. Dec. 21, 2000. The column featured the CJC campaign, including a quote from David Robinson, a faith leader who signed the CJC letter to President Clinton. Ms. Jacobs’ column is nationally syndicated.
• David Nyhan. “Take a deep breath, if you can.” Boston Globe. Dec. 24, 2000. The column is nationally syndicated, including the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
• Katha Pollitt. “This Is Your Country on Drugs.” The Nation. Jan. 1, 2001. The column included information about the campaign and the CJC website.

OPINION-COLUMNS (OP-EDS)

• Eric E. Sterling. “Pardon me, please.” Chicago Tribune. Dec. 20, 2000. Eric Sterling was former counsel to the House Judiciary Committee from 1979 to 1989, where he was principally responsible for anti-drug legislation. Since 1989, he has served as president of the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation, which oversees the Coalition for Jubilee Clemency.
• Roger Chesley. “Pardon of Kemba Smith showed compassion, fairness by Clinton.” Norfolk Virginian-Pilot. Dec. 23, 2000.
• Eric E. Sterling, “A time for Clinton, judges to correct drug-term injustice.” San Diego Union-Tribune. Dec. 28, 2000. This op-ed was similar to Mr. Sterling’s Dec. 20 op-ed in the Chicago Tribune.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

• Allan J. Lindrup. “Clinton has chance to make lasting mark.” Chicago Sun-Times. Nov. 29, 2000. This letter also appeared in two other Chicago newspapers.
• Chad Thevenot. “Low-level offenders still need our help.” Episcopal Life. Jan. 2001. The letter included the CJC website address.

NEWS ARTICLES

• “8 Virginia clergy join call for Clinton to release nonviolent drug offenders.” Norfolk Virginian-Pilot. Nov. 19, 2000.
• Leigh Strope, Associated Press. “Clergy to prez: Clemency.” Philadelphia Daily News. Dec. 8, 2000. This AP national wire story appeared in dozens of newspapers.
• Lisa Richardson. “For some inmates, a season of hope looms.” Los Angeles Times. Dec. 19, 2000. This long feature article included a lengthy quote of the CJC letter to President Clinton, and a photograph of inmate Billy Langston, who was granted clemency on January 20, 2001.
• Dennis Cauchon. “Clinton examines clemency cases.” USA Today, Dec. 22, 2000. This page 3 article included photographs of Dorothy Gaines, who received clemency that same day, and Derrick Curry, who was granted clemency on January 20. The article also appeared in the Albany Times Union on the same day.
• Jerry Filteau, Catholic News Service. “Religious leaders ask clemency for nonviolent federal prisoners.” Jan. 11, 2001. The article was syndicated nationally.
• Lee Davidson, “Grant drug offenders clemency, Rocky says.” (Salt Lake City) Deseret News. Jan. 17, 2001.
• Shawn Foster. “Anderson Seeks Clemency for Offenders.” Salt Lake Tribune. Jan. 17, 2001.

SIGNERS OF THE CJC LETTER

Most of the more than 700 faith leaders who signed CJC’s letter to President Clinton can be found at and a list of signers by state/city is available at We did not have time at the end of the campaign to update names to the Web site. A few of the many prominent signers included:

• Bishop Frederick H. Borsch, Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles
• Rev. Dr. John A. Buehrens, President of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations
• Rev. Dr. Robert W. Edgar, General Secretary of National Council of Churches
• Bishop Curtis J. Guillory, Catholic Diocese of Beaumont, Texas
• Rabia Terri Harris, Coordinator of the Muslim Peace Fellowship
• Rev. Ken Sehested, Executive Director of the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America
• Bishop George W. Walker, Past President of the Board of Bishops, A.M.E. Zion Church
• Rev. J. Philip Wogaman, one of President Clinton’s ministers.

SUPPORTING DEVELOPMENTS

A very important development occurred on October 30, 2000, when the National Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a major paper on criminal justice. It criticized the nation’s “almost exclusive dependence on incarceration” and called for more effective approaches to crime fighting. “We must reject the traditional emphasis on retribution that manifests itself in an over-reliance on incarceration . . . ,” the bishops said. “We must instead balance corrective punishment with efforts at healing, forgiveness and rehabilitation.”

President Clinton, in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine (Dec. 28, 2000 issue), acknowledged: “We really need a re-examination of our entire policy on imprisonment.” He added: “There are tons of people in prison who are nonviolent drug offenders . . . I think the sentences in many cases are too long for nonviolent offenders, and the facilities are not structured to maximize success when the people get out.”

CONCURRENT CLEMENCY CAMPAIGNS

The December and January clemencies followed several major campaigns during the last year, including the Coalition for Jubilee Clemency, which called on President Clinton to grant clemency to such offenders.

Much of the credit for the clemencies belongs to Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM), which has for a decade worked to repeal mandatory minimum sentencing laws and to educate the public about the destructiveness of such laws. FAMM worked hard to urge President Clinton to grant clemencies to low-level, nonviolent drug offenders, sending to Clinton profiles of a dozen cases which merited clemency. Seventeen of the 21 individuals granted clemency on January 20, 2001, were FAMM members.

The November Coalition, a drug war prisoners advocacy group based in Colville, Wash., gathered about 30,000 signatures for a petition calling on the president to “leave a legacy of compassion by extending clemency to all nonviolent federal prisoners who have served at least five years in prison and commuting their sentences to ‘time served.’”

Finally, there were two related efforts by Congresspersons. First, the Congressional Black Caucus urged President Clinton in a January 12, 2001, letter to grant clemency to the approximately 487 first-time, nonviolent drug offenders who would have qualified for the “safety valve” provisions of the 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, if the provisions had been made retroactive. A similar request by eleven members of the House Judiciary Committee was sent to President Clinton on January 4, 2001.

THE FUTURE OF CJC

Despite the clemencies, far more than experts predicted Clinton would grant, tens of thousands of low-level, nonviolent offenders are still incarcerated in Federal prisons, and tens of thousands more in state prisons. A 1994 Department of Justice study counted 16,316 “low-level drug law violators” in Federal prison “without prior violence in their records.” Based on that data, an estimate of the current number of such offenders is approximately 24,000, as the number of Federal offenders has almost doubled since 1994. Although additional clemencies are extremely important, the key to solving the problem is repeal of mandatory minimum sentencing laws, to restore a greater degree of judicial discretion to account for each individual defendant’s culpability and circumstances.

Despite President Bush’s “tough” criminal justice record as Governor of Texas, we are optimistic that progress can be made. Recently, in an interview on CNN, President Bush said, “ I think a lot of people are coming to the realization that maybe long minimum sentences for the first time users may not be the best way to occupy jail space and/or heal people from their disease. And I’m willing to take a look at that.”

The CJC held a meeting on February 21, 2001, at the United Methodist Building on Capitol Hill to discuss the future of the coalition. CJC is developing a clemency campaign directed at the Bush Administration. In addition to the endorsement of individual faith leaders, we want to broaden our base of support by getting individual churches, and state and national faith organizations, to endorse such a campaign.

In a clemency campaign directed at President Bush, CJC plans to feature the case of Clarence Aaron, a college athlete, who received three life terms in December 1993 as a first-time, low-level, nonviolent drug offender. He was featured in the PBS Frontline documentary “Snitch” (as was Dorothy Gaines). Clarence’s mother, Linda Aaron, participated in the clemency press conference and, with CJC’s help, obtained her Congressman’s support for her son’s case. His application for commutation of sentence was filed relatively late and was not prepared by an attorney. Although his case merits clemency, it was not as prominent as the cases of many of the persons granted clemency. He did not receive clemency by President Clinton. You can learn more about the need for sentencing reform, “Snitch,” and Clarence Aaron’s case at www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/snitch/cases/aaron.html.

RESOURCES

The Criminal Justice Policy Foundation
8730 Georgia Avenue, Suite 400 Silver Spring, MD 20910-3649
Tel: (301) 589-6020, Fax: (301) 589-5056
cjpf@cjpf.org
www.cjpf.org

Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM)
1612 K Street, NW, Suite 1400, Washington, DC 20006
Tel: (202) 822-6700, Fax: (202) 822-6704
famm@famm.org
www.famm.org
FAMM publishes the FAMMGram.

The November Coalition
795 South Cedar, Colville, WA 99114
Tel & Fax: (509) 684-1550
moreinfo@november.org
www.november.org
The November Coalition publishes The Razor Wire.

The Drug Policy Alliance
925 Ninth Avenue, New York, NY 10019
Tel: (212) 548-0695, Fax: (212) 548-4670
nyc@drugpolicy.org
www.drugpolicy.org

RECOMMENDED READING/VIEWING

“Friendly Fire: Rethinking the War on Drugs from a Quaker Perspective,” by Eric E. Sterling. Haverford Alumni Magazine. Spring 2000 issue. The article is available by contacting the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation. Tel: (202) 312-2015. Fax: (202) 842-2620. E-mail: cjpf@cjpf.org. Web: www.cjpf.org.