"I have long opposed the mandatory minimum sentencing laws because of their unfairness, their cost to American taxpayers, and their ineffectiveness in deterring crime or rehabilitating offenders," said Mayor Anderson. "The judicial sentencing process should be returned to the discretion of judges, whose job is to evaluate each individual case and ensure that the interests of fairness and justice are served." At the press conference, Mayor Anderson will discuss the case of Utah native Cory Stringfellow, who is serving 188 months for an LSD offense.

Other confirmed speakers include:

• 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), Washington, DC
• Eric Sterling, President, Criminal Justice Policy Foundation, counsel to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, principally responsible for anti-drug legislation, 1979-1989
• Rev. Bernard “Skip” Keels, Senior Pastor (recently appointed), Newark United Methodist Church, Newark, DE, representing the Coalition for Jubilee Clemency
• Marc Mauer, Assistant Director, The Sentencing Project, Washington, DC
• A statement from Harvard Professor Philip B. Heymann, former Deputy Attorney General in the Clinton Administration, will be available at the press conference.

On December 22, 2000, President Clinton 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. In July 2000, the President commuted the sentences of two other similar drug offenders, Amy Pofahl and Serena Nunn.

“The President can and should do more,” said Rev. Bernard Keels, a member of the Coalition for Jubilee Clemency, a group of more than 700 faith leaders who recently sent a letter to President Clinton urging him to grant clemency to low-level, nonviolent Federal drug offenders. The coalition’s statement is at www.cjpf.org/clemency and the list of signers is at www.cjpf.org/clemency/signers.html. “We have not seen any negative responses to the commutations of sentences granted recently by the President. In fact, there have been numerous editorials and columns supporting the action. This is the right thing for the President to do. There are hundreds of Federal prisoners who should be freed immediately, not simply a handful,” added Keels.

“I would like for the President to give my son another chance to live his life. Everybody makes mistakes. He’s my only son,” said Linda Aaron, mother of Clarence Aaron, who is serving three life sentences without parole for a first-time, nonviolent drug conspiracy offense. Other defendants in the conspiracy, many with criminal records, testified against Aaron to reduce their sentences. Aaron did not have a criminal record. He was about to graduate from Southern University when he was sentenced to Federal prison in December 1993. Other co-defendants have already been released from prison. Aaron’s case was featured in the PBS Frontline documentary “Snitch,” which first aired in January 1999. See www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/snitch/.

“We applaud the President for commuting these sentences, but they represent the tip of the iceberg. There are thousands of low level, nonviolent offenders in federal prison and more are pouring in each day," said Julie Stewart, president and founder of Families Against Mandatory Minimums Foundation. "These commutations and President Clinton’s recent comment in Rolling Stone magazine that we should ‘re-examine mandatory sentences’ indicate a sea change in the way our leaders view these laws. Our hope is that President Clinton will free more low-level offenders before he leaves office and that Congress will go even further and reform mandatory sentencing laws.”

“The only thing it takes for injustice to triumph is for good people to recognize the problem and do nothing,” said Michael Gelacak, Vice-Chairman and Commissioner of the U.S. Sentencing Commission from 1990 through 1998. “The President recognizes the problem. He should grant clemency to deserving low-level drug offenders to do justice and to help restore confidence in our criminal justice system.”