CLINTON PARDONS 4 WOMEN JAILED LONGER THAN THEIR MEN

WASHINGTON - In a rare move, U.S. President Bill Clinton has freed
from prison four women convicted of drug crimes who received harsher
sentences than their men.

Clinton felt the women, all first-time offenders, had served a
disproportionate amount of time and granted them clemency.

His action highlighted growing concerns among politicians, judges,
penal activists and families of inmates that conspiracy laws, passed
by Congress in the 1980s, imposing long mandatory sentences in the
"war on drugs" are unfair.

Serena Nunn, 30, was stunned to be let out after serving ten years of
a 14-year sentence. "I thought they were joking with me at
first...right after that, the tears just started flowing," she said.

Nunn had been drawn into a cocaine ring in Minnesota by her boyfriend.
Many of the ring's members co-operated with authorities and received
reduced sentences.

Judge David Doty, who sentenced her, wrote a three-page letter to
Clinton supporting clemency. He said Nunn, while obviously guilty of
a crime, did not deserve the severe penalty he had been required to
impose under the sentencing guidelines.

Speaking for his fellow judges, he said: "It happens not daily but
weekly that we are giving sentences in drug cases that are horrendous.
None of us is happy with mandatory minimums."

Amy Pofahl, 40, another woman set free, was married to a Dallas
businessman who made and distributed the drug ecstasy. She was
unaware of his activities until his arrest, but it was her handling of
their finances that led to her indictment. She was jailed for 24
years without parole while he received no prison time and three years'
probation. She had served nearly 10 years.

- -The Times, London