Obama shortens prison sentences for 98 convict: White House

Reuters
U.S. President Barack Obama speaks about the Affordable Care Act during a visit to Miami Dade College in Miami, Florida, U.S. October 20, 2016. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama shortened the prison sentences for 98 convicts serving time for drug-related offenses in his latest round of commutations, the White House said on Thursday.

Obama has granted 688 commutations this year, for a total so far in his presidency of 872. The commutations are part of Obama's push to reform the criminal justice system to reduce the number of people serving long sentences for non-violent drug offenses.

(Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Editing by James Dalgleish)