List of people granted executive clemency by Barack Obama
By the end of his second and final term on January 20, 2017, United States President Barack Obama had exercised his constitutional power to grant the executive clemency—that is, "pardon, commutation of sentence, remission of fine or restitution, and reprieve"—to 1,927 individuals convicted of federal crimes. Of the acts of clemency, 1715 were commutations and 212 were pardons. Most individuals granted executive clemency by Obama had been convicted on drug charges, and had received lengthy and sometimes mandatory sentences at the height of the war on drugs.
Obama holds the record for the largest single-day use of the clemency power, granting 330 commutations on January 19, 2017, his last full day in office. He also issued more commutations than the past 13 presidents combined.
Constitutional provision
The pardon powers of the President are outlined in Article Two of the United States Constitution, which provides:Definitions
A pardon is an executive order granting clemency for a conviction, it may be granted "at any point after the... commission" of the crime. As per Justice Department regulations, convicted persons may only apply five or more years after their sentence has been completed. However, the President's power to pardon is not restricted by any temporal constraints except that the crime must have been committed. Its practical effect is the restoration of civil rights and statutory disabilities associated with a past criminal conviction. In rarer cases, such as the pardon of Richard Nixon, a pardon can also halt criminal proceedings and prevent an indictment.A commutation is the mitigation of the sentence of someone currently serving a sentence for a crime pursuant to a conviction, without vacating the conviction itself.
Pardons and commutations
This is a partial list of people pardoned or granted clemency by a United States president, ordered by date of pardon or commutation. For an updated list, see U.S. Department of Justice.Pardons
December 3, 2010
May 20, 2011
November 21, 2011
March 1, 2013
December 19, 2013
January 17, 2017
During his 4th to last day in office, Obama pardoned James Cartwright, who was awaiting sentencing for giving false statements to federal investigators, and Willie McCovey was pardoned for tax evasion.Commutations
November 21, 2011
December 19, 2013| Name | Court | Sentenced | Sentence | Offense | Terms of Commutation |
| Clarence Aaron | United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama | December 10, 1993 | Life imprisonment; 5 years' supervised release | Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and cocaine base, possession with intent to distribute cocaine, attempt to possess cocaine with intent to distribute | Sentence of imprisonment to expire on April 17, 2014, leaving intact and in effect the five-year term of supervised release with all its conditions and all other components of the sentence |
July 13, 2015
On this day, Obama announced he would be commuting the sentences of 46 drug offenders.June 3, 2016
On this day, Obama announced he would be commuting the sentences of 42 offenders.| Name | Court | Sentencing Date | Time served | Offense | Terms of commutation |
| Eric E. Alvarez | Eastern District of North Carolina | 2000 | 360 months in prison, 5 years of supervised release | Distribution of cocaine and cocaine base | Sentence expired on October 1, 2016, leaving intact and in effect the five-year term of supervised release with all its conditions and all other components of the sentence. |
| Dale Baldwin | Middle District of Florida | 1995 | Life imprisonment; 10 years' supervised release | Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine base | Prison sentence commuted to expire on October 1, 2016, leaving intact and in effect the 10-year term of supervised release with all its conditions and all other components of the sentence. |