News Archive

Professor Lahny Silva and alumna Stacy Oliver, ’16, saw their client’s prison sentence commuted by President Barack Obama. News of Mr. Anthony Anderson’s sentence commutation was released on October 6.

Professor Silva (in the photo at left) received Mr. Anderson’s case through the Clemency Project 2014 in September of 2015. She worked on the case with Oliver, who was then a law student at IU McKinney, through February 2016. Mr. Anderson was convicted of a non-violent drug offense. He was sentenced to 240 months in prison and 10 years of supervised release on July 25, 2006. The commutation means he will be released 10 years early when he leaves prison on February 3, 2017.

For Oliver (in the photo at left), work on the case was part of an Advanced Course-Related Experience through her criminal sentencing class with Professor Silva.

“Professor Silva was great and it was an honor to work by her side to complete the petition,” Oliver said. “It is not every day that students are able to see their professors in real-world practice, and it was a great experience!”

Oliver said she was thrilled to learn the news of Mr. Anderson’s commutation. “Not just thrilled that our hard work paid off, but thrilled that our hard work gave our client another chance to do great things with his life,” Oliver said. “I keep thinking about the opportunities that will arise in our client's life that much sooner. We certainly wish all the best for him.”

President Obama has commuted the sentences of 673 individuals to date, more than the previous 10 presidents combined. The majority of commutations have been granted for people that have made significant rehabilitative progress and received sentences for nonviolent drug offenses.