washington u.s. president barack obama shorten prison sentence 98 convict serve time drug-related offenses late round commutations include 42 people serve life sentence white house say thursday obama grant 688 commutations year total far 872 presidency end jan. 20 individuals many make mistake young age diligently work rehabilitate incarcerate white house counsel neil eggleston say statement commutations part obama push reform criminal justice system reduce number people serve long sentence non-violent drug offenses obama bipartisan group lawmakers u.s. congress try work legislation reduce mandatory minimum sentence efforts stall ahead nov. presidential election obama shorten prison sentence 98 convict white house