Civil and Human Rights Coalition Applauds Presidential Commutations, Calls for Next Step in Reform

WASHINGTON—Wade Henderson, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement in response to President Obama’s commutation of sentences for 46 individuals, many of whom were convicted under overly punitive, discriminatory, and outdated sentencing laws. The Leadership Conference has also urged the President to issue an executive order that would “ban the box” for job applications with the federal government and its contractors and implement fair chance hiring practices that would open doors of opportunity for people who were once incarcerated:

“We applaud the President’s leadership in commuting the overly harsh and outdated sentences of these individuals. Today’s action sends an unmistakable message to the nation that we desperately need reforms to our inhumane, discriminatory, and costly criminal justice system.

The people who the President pardoned today will face senseless obstacles to becoming productive members of society for the rest of their lives. They’ll face barriers to securing housing, financial aid for college, and employment, which will make every day harder than it was before they were incarcerated. These barriers come at a huge cost to our nation, which permanently forces these individuals to the margins of society.

Across the country, Republicans and Democrats have come together to call for smart, moral, and cost-effective sentencing reforms and the removal of these barriers. The President should continue to show leadership by issuing an executive order to make sure that all federal agencies and contractors give the formerly incarcerated a fair chance at employment by ‘banning the box,’ as 17 states have done, and by implementing a fair evaluation system that eliminates the litmus test that denies all applicants who have been in prison the opportunity to work. 

We thank President Obama for his leadership on fairer sentencing and call on him to take the next step and issue this executive order to ban the box this summer.”

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 200 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its 200-plus member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.

##