CLERGY ASK TO COMMUTE DRUG SENTENCES

WASHINGTON (AP) -- More than 600 religious leaders are asking President
Clinton to commute the sentences of low-level, nonviolent federal drug
offenders during his final weeks in office.

The clergy members, calling themselves the Coalition for Jubilee Clemency,
delivered the letter to the White House last month, but have not yet
received a response. Clinton's own pastor, the Rev. J. Philip Wogaman of
Foundry United Methodist Church in Washington, was one of the signers.

The letter asks Clinton to grant clemency to and release on supervised
parole federal prisoners who have served at least five years for low-level,
nonviolent drug offenses.

"Scores of Americans are serving unconscionably long sentences for drug
offenses -- in some cases 20 years or more -- which are grossly out of
proportion to the nature and severity of their crimes," the letter said.
"These unduly severe sentences violate human rights and waste scarce
criminal justice resources."

The U.S. prison population has increased from 600,000 inmates in 1990 to
1.89 million last year, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. An
additional 135,800 people were held in juvenile, military, immigration and
other facilities, including those in U.S. territories and commonwealths.

Experts say longer sentences, particularly for drug offenders, have
contributed to the growth in the federal system. The U.S. rate of
incarceration is more than six times that of Canada and Australia and five
times that of any European Union nation, according to The Sentencing
Project, a private group that advocates alternatives to prison.

The clergy group said it is unlikely that Clinton will release thousands of
prisoners. "But he should start the process by granting clemency in the
most egregious cases," said Chad Thevenot, the group's coordinator.
"Presidential action is urgent because it is unlikely that the opportunity
to free significant numbers of deserving prisoners will arise again for
four or eight years as the political risk involved will likely be avoided
in a charged political atmosphere."

In July, Clinton commuted the sentences of five prisoners serving what the
White House said was a disproportionate amount of time for drug offenses.

Every 50th year in the Christian and Jewish faiths is a Jubilee year, when
debts are forgiven and prisoners are liberated. This year is a Jubilee year
for Christians, the group said.