I think it sends a message that if you are friends with Trump or politically aligned, and in prison or about to go to prison, you have a good chance Trump will get you out. I think Trump does it because he sees himself in them, and for favors in the future. It’s like giving money to political campaigns (which he has talked about) you give money for favors later.
Realize that Trump also went along with reducing sentences for things like crack cocaine also (this was bipartisan) and I think he personally granted pardons to some prisoners who were in jail for drug related crimes. I assume this will be held up by Republicans if examples of Trump not liking people to be locked up, but I haven’t been listening yet to what is being said.
@elbanditoroso I semi-agree with your statement about being rich and white, but note, probably the majority of people in prison for white collar crimes are white, although I don’t know the statistics, so if someone is going to get some sort of clemency or pardon who is in jail for a white collar crime, they probably are white. The change in crack laws will help a lot of blacks people, because they are disproportionately black. Certainly, having friends in high places helps, and it’s still more likely white people are in high places, so the system of course is unfair even across racial lines, so I agree with that.