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Barack Obama commutes 330 drug sentences in final act as US President

Mr Obama has made his final decision as United States President.

Mr Obama has made his final decision as United States President. Photo: Getty

In his last major act as president, Barack Obama is cutting short the sentences of 330 federal inmates convicted of drug crimes.

The move brings Mr Obama’s bid to correct what he’s called a systematic injustice to a climactic close.

Mr Obama has now commuted the sentences of 1,715 people, more than any other president in US history.

During his presidency Mr Obama freed 568 inmates serving life sentences.

The final batch of commutations is the most any US president has issued in a single day.

It’s the culmination of a second-term effort to remedy consequences of decades of onerous sentencing requirements.

Mr Obama has said these sentencing requirements put tens of thousands of drug offenders behind bars for too long.

Mr Obama repeatedly called on Congress to act broadly, but lawmakers never did.

The move comes after Mr Obama on Wednesday (AEDT) commuted the sentence of Chelsea Manning.

Ms Manning had served seven years of a 35 year sentence for leaking sensitive US defence information to Wikileaks.

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