Obama commutes sentences of 61 offenders

Washington : President Barack Obama on Wednesday commuted the sentences of 61 prisoners convicted of mostly cocaine-related offenses, as he again pressed the case for justice reform.

The White House announced that Obama had commuted sentences that ranged from life imprisonment to lesser jail terms for possession and conspiracy to distribute drugs like crack or cocaine.

In December, Obama commuted similar sentences of 95 Americans, foreshadowing a 2016 push to fix the criminal justice system.

Obama has now commuted the sentences of 248 offenders.

On Wednesday he met seven of those who received clemency from his and previous administrations.

It took place at the Washington cafe Busboys and Poets, which banned job forms which asked applicants if they have a criminal record.

At the meeting Obama said justice reform was a "top priority" and arguing that commutations and pardons "show people what a second chance looks like."

"You've got folks around this table who are now attorneys. They're raising children, getting married,"Obama said, pointing to one man who was convicted for drug dealing and now works at the Veterans Administration.

Obama wants to reform a range of laws that cause the United States to have among the world's highest incarceration rates and puts a disproportionate number of black and Hispanic Americans behind bars.

Reforming the judicial system is one of the rare issues on which a sufficient number of Republicans and Democrats in Congress appear to agree, raising the prospect of congressional action even in an election year.