Obama commutes record total 774 sentences

"The vast majority of today’s grants were for individuals serving unduly harsh sentences for drug-related crimes under outdated sentencing laws," White House counsel Neil Eggleston said in a statement. "With today’s grants, the President has commuted 774 sentences, more than the previous 11 presidents combined. With a total of 590 commutations this year, President Obama has now commuted the sentences of more individuals in one year than in any other single year in our nation’s history 

What started as a relatively simply move to reduce the sentences of those convicted of drug crimes has turned into a move to grant commutations to inmates convicted of more serious crimes. That has meant commuting sentences without immediately releasing the inmates in what are known as "term" commutations, as opposed to the more common "time served" commutations. They represent a remarkable departure from recent past practice. Unlike a full pardon, commutations shorten sentences but leave other consequences of the conviction in place.