McDonald Hopkins pro bono client receives Presidential Clemency

A McDonald Hopkins pro bono client was among the 102 individuals who received Presidential clemency on October 6, 2016. The client had been sentenced in July 2006 to serve 15 years in federal prison for selling $250 worth of crack cocaine (6 grams). He was not due to be released until 2019. McDonald Hopkins attorney Bruce Reinhart volunteered to represent the client as part of the Clemency Project 2014, a national pro bono effort jointly run by the American Bar Association, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Families Against Mandatory Minimums, and the American Civil Liberties Union. After considering the clemency petition submitted in May 2016 by McDonald Hopkins, President Barack Obama commuted the sentence and ordered that client be released on February 3, 2017. McDonald Hopkins represents several other individuals as part of the Clemency Project 2014.