John Legend: An Open Letter to Barack Obama on Non-Violent Drug Offenders
For John Legend, drug-related incarceration is an issue that hits close to home. As a teenager, he saw his mother struggle with depression and drug abuse; eventually, she landed in prison. The singer has previously spoken out against mass incarceration and campaigned for criminal justice reform with his #FREEAMERICA initiative. Here, he petitions President Obama on behalf of federal inmates.
First of all, I would like to thank you for your friendship and for your outstanding service to our country. I’m particularly grateful for the concrete steps your administration has taken to provide opportunities to tens of millions of young people and families who have been impacted by mass incarceration.
Your administration took bold steps to end juvenile solitary confinement, reduce the use of federal private prisons and move to “ban the box” for federal employees. While we hope the Trump administration and the 115th Congress will maintain this progress and continue to work in a bipartisan manner to reform our criminal justice system, it is unclear what their priorities will be and when families can expect justice. Before you leave office, I would like to add my voice to the more than 2 million Americans who have asked you to use your clemency and pardon powers to bring justice to the thousands of families of non-violent drug offenders who have waited far too long for Congress to act.
In 2014, you set out to reinvigorate our country’s approach to clemency. Your actions to commute the…