Obama shortens prison sentences for 98 convicts: White House

[October 28, 2016]    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama shortened the prison sentences for 98 convicts serving time for drug-related offenses in his latest round of commutations, including for 42 people serving life sentences, the White House said on Thursday.

President Barack Obama speaks about the Affordable Care Act during a visit to Miami Dade College in Miami, Florida, U.S. October 20, 2016. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Obama has granted 688 commutations this year, for a total so far of 872 during his presidency, which ends on Jan. 20.

"These are individuals - many of whom made mistakes at a young age - who have diligently worked to rehabilitate themselves while incarcerated," White House Counsel Neil Eggleston said in a statement.

The commutations are part of Obama's push to reform the criminal justice system to reduce the number of people serving long sentences for non-violent drug offenses.

Obama and a bipartisan group of lawmakers in the U.S. Congress had tried to work on legislation to reduce mandatory minimum sentences, but those efforts stalled ahead of the Nov. 8 presidential election.

(Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Editing by James Dalgleish)

[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.