NFL players recommend pardons to Trump

BY BROOKE SEIPEL - 06/21/18 08:30 AM EDT

NFL players are calling on President Trump to issue a blanket pardon for nonviolent drug crimes in response to Trump's request for pardon recommendations from players protesting during the anthem

Four NFL players — Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Doug Baldwin, former San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Anquan Boldin, safety for the Philadelphia Eagles Malcolm Jenkins and New Orleans Saints tight end Benjamin Watson — made the request in an op-ed for The New York Times.

"[People] should not be given de facto life sentences for nonviolent drug crimes in the first place. The president could stop that from happening by issuing a blanket pardon for people in that situation who have already served long sentences," the players write in their piece.

"Of the roughly 185,000 people locked up in federal prisons, about 79,000 are there for drug offenses of some kind — and 13.5 percent of them have sentences of 20 years or more," the players continue. "Imagine how many more Alice Johnsons the president could pardon if he treated the issue like the systemic problem it is, rather than asking professional football players for a few cases.

In the piece, the players also call on Trump to eliminate life without parole for nonviolent offenses and to release drug offenders over the age of 60 whose convictions are not recent.

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http://thehill.com/homenews/media/393412-nfl-players-recommend-pardons-to-trump