U.S. Democratic hopeful Booker proposes clemency for thousands of drug offenders

Democratic presidential hopeful Cory Booker said on Thursday he would consider releasing thousands of nonviolent drug offenders from federal prisons, vowing to use the president’s pardon power to address inherent inequality in the justice system.

Booker, a U.S. senator from New Jersey and one of two dozen Democrats competing for their party’s nomination for the 2020 presidential election, said he would initiate a sweeping clemency program aimed at those serving “unjust and excessive sentences” for drug crimes, including marijuana-related offenses.

The plan builds upon Booker’s longstanding focus on criminal justice...