Obama not a 'pardoning' kind of president

President Obama unquestionably leads his predecessors in at least one area: denial of pardon and clemency requests.

Obama has pardoned only 22 individuals during his time in office, while denying 1,019 other clemency requests, according to an analysis by the ProPublica website.

Obama "has given pardons to roughly 1 of every 50 individuals whose applications were processed by the Justice Department," reports ProPublica.

"At this point in his presidency," the investigative website added, "Ronald Reagan had pardoned 1 of every 3 such applicants. George H.W. Bush had pardoned 1 in 16. Bill Clinton had pardoned 1 in 8. George W. Bush had pardoned 1 in 33."

Also from ProPublica:

"A former brothel manager who helped the FBI bust a national prostitution ring. A retired sheriff who inadvertently helped a money launderer buy land. A young woman who mailed Ecstasy tablets for a drug-dealing boyfriend, then worked with investigators to bring him down.

"All of them and hundreds more were denied pardons by President Obama, who has granted clemency at a lower rate than any modern president, a ProPublica review of pardons data shows.

"The Constitution gives the president unique power to forgive individuals for federal offenses. While pardons do not wipe away convictions, they can restore a person's full rights to vote, possess firearms and obtain business licenses, as well as remove barriers to certain career opportunities and adoptions. For many applicants, a pardon is simply an opportunity for a fresh start.

"But Obama has parceled out forgiveness far more rarely than his recent predecessors, pardoning just 22 individuals while denying 1,019. ....

"Obama also has been stingy with commutations, applications for early release by those still serving federal prison sentences.

"Under Reagan and Clinton, applicants for commutations had a 1 in 100 chance of success. Under George W. Bush, that fell to a little less than 1 in 1,000. Under Obama, an applicant's chance is slightly less than 1 in 5,000.

"He has commuted the sentence of one individual, a woman with terminal leukemia whose case was championed by Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin."