President Obama Offers Clemency To Drug Trafficking Convict, Convict Refuses Because It Would Require Drug Treatment

Arnold Ray Jones, a drug trafficking convict, refused to accept President Obama’s clemency.

President Obama Offers Clemency To Drug Trafficking Convict, Convict Refuses Because It Would Require Drug Treatment

Beaumont, Texas – President Obama now has less then 100 days in office and he is painstakingly working on commuting the sentences of masses of drug dealers. Since the program was announced 29,000 inmates have applied for clemency on their drug charges.

About a week ago Obama added another 102 commuted sentences to the list of 673, which should have brought the total to 775. Something wasn’t adding up though, the White House had only accounted for 774. Turns out, Arnold Ray Jones, an inmate at a low security prison in Beaumont, Texas, declined Obama’s clemency. Jones had originally been granted clemency on August 3rd. That day marked the single largest clemency grant in history by any President with 214 sentences being commuted. The White House would proudly add that “President Obama has surpassed the past nine presidents combined in total commutations.” Why this is being touted as a success is a mystery to us.

The conditions of Jones being released would have required him to attend an intensive drug abuse program.  While in the program, he would have been separated from the general population for 9 months and required to attend daily 4-hour community based therapy sessions. Accepting this condition would have gotten Jones out in two years. Instead, he has six years left on his sentence and  he decided that he would rather spend his time in prison in hopes that he can get out early for good behavior. Even with good behavior, Jones would not be eligible to be released in less than two years. Arnold Jones apparently doesn’t want to go to treatment.

Jones was initially locked up in 2002 on drug trafficking charges and it was noted that he was a daily crack cocaine user. Many are in full support of Obama’s commutation of “non-violent” drug offenders. We know that drugs and violence go together like peanut butter and jelly, furthermore, drug trafficking itself is inherently violent. We’ve seen so many lives destroyed because of drugs and the people who are pushing these drugs in their communities need to be held accountable.

Do you think that drug dealers should have their sentences commuted?