In 2010, President Obama signed the Fair Sentencing Act, legislation that limits the mandatory minimum sentences for low-level crack cocaine offenses that bipartisan leaders agree were overly harsh and unjust. The new law significantly reduced the cocaine sentencing disparity from 100 to 1 to 18 to 1. But people are still in prison under these laws. 

The law was not retroactive, meaning even though Congress and the President agreed these laws were unjust and disproportionately impacted African-American men, they'll still remain in prison.  

But President Obama has the power to grant clemency to federal prisoners and can use that authority to provide crack cocaine offenders relief. He did so in December 2013 when he commuted the sentences of eight men and women who were sentenced to harsh mandatory sentences under the old law.

Please sign our petition asking President Obama to use his clemency power to commute the sentences of all those still incarcerated in federal prisons that were sentenced under the 100:1 crack cocaine disparity. Since there is no parole in the federal system, clemency is the only opportunity for early release, barring federal legislation.

Such clemencies have happened before: John F. Kennedy pardoned first-time offenders convicted under the Narcotics Control Act of 1956; Gerald Ford offered conditional amnesty to over 50,000 Vietnam War draft dodgers and Jimmy Carter ultimately pardoned all those who had fled the draft or failed to register for the Vietnam War. 

These Americans have been punished long enough, fairness requires they be given the benefit of federal sentencing reform. Justice delayed is justice denied.