Welcome to CAN-DO: justice through clemency

CAN–DO is a 501(c) 3 nonprofit foundation that advocates Clemency for All Non-violent Drug Offenders. CAN-DO has access to numerous cases, many of which are presented on … Read the rest

CAN-DO has teamed up with some of the leading pardon experts and activists in the nation, including Mark Osler, Sam Morison, and Eric Sterling, just to name a few.

Sam Morison provides invaluable insight and expertise with regard to the … Read the rest

There is a lot of misinformation flying around about why federal prison facilities are changing the policy governing incoming mail. The CANDO Foundation was made aware of the change in this policy back in October of 2017.  This is not … Read the rest

The CAN-DO Foundation is overjoyed by President Trump’s first commutation of sentence to Sholom Rubashkin, an Iowa kosher meatpacking executive.   This is remarkable for two reasons.  It’s very rare for a president to commute a sentence in their first year … Read the rest

A huge thank you to Steve Nelson at Washington Examiner for spotlighting three prisoners that CAN-DO advocates for – Michelle West serving double life, Michael Pelletier serving life for pot and Chad Marks serving 40 years.  These individuals deserve mercy … Read the rest

Special thanks to Victoria Law and REWIRE, for this in depth article:  “Women do not choose to have a period,” said Amy Povah, who spent nine years in a federal prison and is now the founder and director of … Read the rest

Responding to outcry from prisoners who’ve been devastated by their half-way house dates being pushed back, (even the day before some were set to release) CAN-DO performed a survey to verify this is not happening to “only 1% of the … Read the rest

CAN-DO has launched a new change.org petition seeking clemency from Governor Brown for prisoners who risk life and limb to save the lives and homes of other California residents.  We are thrilled to see it gaining so much momentum because … Read the rest

The CAN-DO Foundation believes that incarcerated female firefighters should receive clemency from Governor Brown for displaying extraordinary character in the face of dire circumstances.  Rehabilitation has long been an incentive to reduce a prison sentence and we can see no … Read the rest

Reason Magazine, and the rest of the nation, has their eye on Alice Marie Johnson and here’s why…read the entire story here

Obama’s ramping up of commutations, which lessens an inmate’s prison time, was extraordinary given the historic rarity of it all, according to advocates.

“Everybody was hoping they’d see their name on the list,” said Povah, who herself was granted clemency … Read the rest

Andrea James, founder of Families for Justice as Healing (FJAH) together with many formerly incarcerated women helped spearhead the Dignity for Incarcerated Women Act of 2017. Andrea polled numerous women from the National Council of Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated … Read the rest

Twice in recent years, chemists used by the state of Massachusetts to test drugs in criminal cases committed massive misconduct in their testing, affecting tens of thousands of cases. And twice, prosecutors in Massachusetts failed to act promptly to … Read the rest

CAN-DO worked with Tana Geneva to gather stories for her revealing article for Rolling Stone – click title and read the whole story:

Pot Prisoners: Meet Five Victims of the War on Drugs

This must-read exposes the ugly underbelly of … Read the rest

Doug Berman’s Federal Sentencing Reporter, together with Vera Institute engaged in an in-depth review of President Obama’s Clemency Initiative.

CAN-DO Founder Amy Povah was asked to write about the “women” who received clemency from President Obama, or lack thereof.  Sadly, … Read the rest