Why Is This an Issue?

According to an analysis of Department of Justice data published by Reason.com, only three presidents made less use of the clemency power than did Obama during their first terms: George Washington, who had little cause to grant clemency in the nation's first days; William Henry Harrison, who died of pneumonia a month after taking office; and James Garfield, who was shot four months into his presidency.

After granting 17 pardons this year, according to the DOJ website, the total for Obama's presidency stands at 39 pardons (which clear people's records, typically after they've completed their sentences) and just one commutation (which shortens a prisoner's sentence).

As you can see from the graphic, Obama still ranks at the bottom historically, and his record extends a trend of presidential intolerance that dates to the tough-on-crime demagoguery of Presidents Reagan or Nixon—both of whom, ironically, were more generous with clemency powers than Obama.

"In Federalist 74, Hamilton made clear why the president had the power to pardon: Mercy, particularly when sentences are too harsh. It's the way of humans, we overreact sometimes," said Mark Osler, a University of St. Thomas (Minnesota) professor and former federal prosecutor in Detroit who wrote Angelos' broadly supported petition. (Disclosure: Osler is a friend of mine.)

The issue is freighted with politics. In 1988, Republicans attacked Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis for a Massachusetts furlough program that allowed convicted murderer Willie Horton to escape and commit more crimes. Two decades later, rivals skewered GOP presidential candidate and former Arkansas Govenor Mike Huckabee for his role in the release of convicted rapist Wayne Dumond, who raped and murdered another woman after leaving prison.

Obama has a particular political problem. In early 2001, Bill Clinton granted a spate of unseemly pardons and commutations in the final days of his presidency. The most controversial act of clemency went to financier Marc Rich on the recommendation of Eric Holder, who is now Obama's attorney general.

Responding to (and stoking) voters' fears, a generation of politicians have engaged in what political columnist Carl M. Cannon called "an orgy of incarceration" that included mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes. In 1992, Bill Clinton campaigned for president promising to "put more police on the street and more criminals behind bars." Incumbent George H.W. Bush pledged to double spending on federal prison construction.

In 2010, Congress finally addressed the crack-powder cocaine disparity, but the law wasn't made retroactive. "So you've got all these people serving incredibly long sentences that, under the new law, they'd be out of prison by now," Osler said.

That is not the only blunderbuss statute carrying harsh mandatory sentences. Angelos, at age 24 and with no criminal history as an adult, was caught selling $350 worth of marijuana on three occasions while in possession of a firearm. Though it was not used in the crime, the weapon triggered extreme sentencing requirements. Had he been charged in a state court, for example, Angelos would have been paroled years ago, the petition says. His sentence is longer than the punishment imposed on aircraft hijackers, kidnappers, child rapists, and second-degree murderers.