Clinton Commutes 4 Women’s Terms Citing Gender Bias in Sentencing

President Clinton commuted the prison sentences of four women who received significantly harsher sentences than their male counterparts in recent drug related convictions. Each of the women had been sentenced to far more severe sentences than their husbands or boyfriends and the president felt they had served a “disproportionate amount of time.” In one case in California, a woman received a 24-year sentence without parole while her husband was sentenced to only three years probation.