Leading Sentencing Reform Group Repeats Call for Congressional Investigation
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 24, 2012

Contact: Monica Pratt Raffanel, (202) 822-6700 or   

WASHINGTON, D.C. – FAMM today hosted a panel discussion that highlighted the enormous – and often negative – impact that federal clemency decisions have on real people and their families. The event, which was held at the National Press Club, came a week after a media investigation revealed disturbing new information about misconduct in the Office of the Pardon Attorney (OPA) at the U.S. Department of Justice with regard to applicants for sentence commutations.

Dafna Linzer, a senior reporter for ProPublica and author of the OPA story, and Sam Morison, who served for 13 years as a staff attorney at the OPA, joined Molly Gill, FAMM’s director of special projects, on the panel along with three individuals with direct experience with the OPA.

Linda Aaron, mother of federal prisoner Clarence Aaron, a...