President Commutes Life Without Parole Sentence of 老澳门开奖结果 Client Douglas Ray Dunkins Jr.

June 3, 2016 3:00 pm

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WASHINGTON 鈥 President Barack Obama today commuted the sentences of 42 people, including Douglas Ray Dunkins Jr., 50, who has been serving life without parole for a nonviolent drug offense since he was 26. The 老澳门开奖结果 represented Dunkins in his application for clemency and featured him in the report 鈥A Living Death: Life Without Parole for Nonviolent Offenses.鈥

鈥淥ver two decades ago, Douglas was sent to prison to die for a nonviolent drug offense. That sentence was so extreme that the judge who handed it down has recognized its excessiveness,鈥 said Ezekiel Edwards, Douglas鈥檚 attorney and director of the 老澳门开奖结果 Criminal Law Reform Project. 鈥淎lmost 25 years later, President Obama has opened a door for Douglas, allowing him to rebuild the life that our failed war on drugs destroyed.鈥

鈥淭he most important thing to me about freedom is caring for my parents. Their health is going downhill,鈥 Dunkins from El Reno federal prison in Oklahoma last July. 鈥淎lso, I haven鈥檛 been able to see my daughters grow into young ladies, and I haven鈥檛 had the benefit of assisting my sisters as a brother should 鈥 let alone just living life as a free person.鈥

Dunkins, who was convicted of conspiracy to manufacture and sell crack cocaine, will be released from El Reno in October. He will return to his family in Texas. At El Reno, he held various jobs, completed multiple educational and vocational programs, and became a certified paralegal, helping fellow prisoners with legal matters.

For 鈥淎 Living Death: Life Without Parole for Nonviolent Offenses,鈥 visit:
/report/living-death-life-without-parole-nonviolent-offenses

For more information about Clemency Project 2014, visit:

For more information about the 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 Criminal Law Reform Project, visit:
/issues/criminal-law-reform

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