ALI member Margaret Colgate Love has written an op-ed in The New York Times titled “Modify Prison Sentences.” The letter to the editor responds to an editorial that was previously published titled “Mr. Obama’s Pardon Problem,” which addresses the issue of removing the clemency process from the grip of the Justice Department in order to solve the president’s pardon problem. Ms. Love states that removing the clemency process, however, is only part of the problem.
“Clemency is ill suited to deal with the systemic issue that concerns him, which is that thousands of federal prisoners are serving sentences far longer than would be imposed today. The courts are institutionally in the best position to handle sentence reductions on a large scale, and there is authority for them to do it under current law,” according to Ms. Love.
Ms. Love serves as an Adviser on the Model Penal Code: Sentencing project. She also is an MCG participant on several projects, including the Project on Sexual & Gender-Based Misconduct on Campus: Procedural Framework & Analysis; Principles of the Law of Compliance Enforcement & Risk Management; Model Penal Code: Sexual Assault and Related Offenses; and Principles of the Law, Government Ethics.