“The quality of mercy is not straine’d,” implored Shakespeare’s Portia, meaning it should not be difficult or forced. But President Obama’s Clemency Project, an effort to free “a whole bunch of good citizens who committed one little mistake” and ended up with more than 10 years in prison, is starting to look a little, well, “strain’d,” indeed.

So far, over six years, those actually commuted is about 2 tenths of one percent of those who applied. Predictably, supporters are now saying that the criteria “still may be too strict.” 

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