--- title: Last Week Tonight: John Oliver Demands End to Mandatory Minimum Laws description: On Last Week Tonight, John Oliver drew attention to the fact that President Obama commuted the sentences of 46 non-violent drug offenders canonical: https://time.com/3972717/watch-john-oliver-last-week-tonight-mandatory-minimum-laws/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-27T07:21:32.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:49:33.703Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Watch John Oliver Demand an End to Mandatory Minimum Laws og:description: Oliver believes they have done "way more harm than good." og:url: https://time.com/3972717/watch-john-oliver-last-week-tonight-mandatory-minimum-laws/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2167f5b329018eaf/69885c85e20a879132a8c723/screen-shot-2015-07-27-at-3-28-47-pm.png?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Screen Shot 2015-07-27 at 3.28.47 PM og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch John Oliver Demand an End to Mandatory Minimum Laws twitter:description: Oliver believes they have done "way more harm than good." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2167f5b329018eaf/69885c85e20a879132a8c723/screen-shot-2015-07-27-at-3-28-47-pm.png?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Watch John Oliver Demand an End to Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Laws ## Video: Jon Stewart Leaving 'The Daily Show' Later This Year [Watch (HLS stream): Jon Stewart Leaving 'The Daily Show' Later This Year](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/I8CnWx2T.m3u8) (0:46)  _Published 2015-02-11. Jon Stewart announced he will be stepping down as host of "The Daily Show" later in 2015. There's no word about his replacement._ by [Melissa Locker](/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Jul 27, 2015 7:21 AM CUT  by [Melissa Locker](/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Jul 27, 2015 7:21 AM CUT On _Last Week Tonight,_ John Oliver drew attention to the fact that U.S. President Barack Obama [commuted the sentences](http://time.com/3766093/obama-grants-early-release-drug-offenders/ "undefined") of 46 non-violent drug offenders, a move that John Oliver considers “the criminal justice version of _Top Chef: Last Chance Kitchen_” without the risk of “disappointing Padma with your risotto.” The prisoners were all incarcerated under mandatory minimum sentencing laws, which require typically harsh sentences regardless of the context of each crime. Oliver believes that these laws are remnants of the war on drugs put in place by the Bush and Reagan administrations and, according to Oliver, they are responsible for the explosion in the U.S. prison population with non-violent drug offenders stuck in prison for decades with no chance of parole. As an example, Oliver showed a clip from the documentary _The House I Live In,_ featuring a prisoner who was sentenced to life in prison without a chance of parole for carrying three ounces of methamphetamine. In Oliver’s terminology, they were treating the prisoner like “season five Walter White when he was barely season one Jesse Pinkman.” Another prisoner was a non-violent first-time offender who sold a small amount of marijuana to an undercover agent and was slapped with a 55-year sentence without parole for selling a drug which is now legal in four states and, according to Oliver, “has the side effect of making episodes of _Frasier_ slightly funnier.” Oliver believes that these mandatory minimum sentencing laws have done “way more harm than good,” especially because they tend to affect black and Hispanic populations the most. Additionally, many mandatory minimum sentences have been changed, but those changes have not been applied retroactively, something Oliver finds abhorrent. ### Inside the California Prison Where Inmates Train Rescue Dogs  Jack playing with Shelby after their morning training session. Shaughn Crawford and John DuBois  Inmate Marcus and a dog called Eddie in cell block A5. Shaughn Crawford and John DuBois  A dog named Shelby sitting inside an inmate's cell at California State Prison. Shaughn Crawford and John DuBois  Inmates Jack and Marcus relaxing with dogs in the late afternoon inside cell block A5. Shaughn Crawford and John DuBois  Inmate Martel with Chuey. Shaughn Crawford and John DuBois  Salaam greeting Chuey as he arrives in the prison. Shaughn Crawford and John DuBois  Inmates listening to instructions during a training session in cell block A5. Shaughn Crawford and John DuBois  Inmate Marcus leaving cell block A5 to walk in the yard with Rendell. Shaughn Crawford and John DuBois  Travielle sitting in the shade with a dog named Chuey during a break from their training. Shaughn Crawford and John DuBois  Inmate John feeding a dog named Rendell in his crate in the morning. Shaughn Crawford and John DuBois  A dog called Eddie is seen napping in the shade during a break from training. Shaughn Crawford and John DuBois  John walking the yard with Rendell on their last day together at the prison. 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