Nonprofit Clemency Foundation
Welcome to the CAN-DO Foundation
justice through clemency
CAN-DO is a 501(c) 3 nonprofit clemency foundation in Malibu, CA, that advocates Clemency for All Nonviolent Drug Offenders. CAN-DO has access to numerous cases, most of which are presented on this website. We focus heavily on women because the CAN-DO Founder, Amy Ralston Povah
The postcard that advocates used to garner support for Amy’s clemency
vowed to never forget the women she served time with when she left FCI Dublin after President Clinton commuted her sentence on July 7, 2000. She lived up to that vow and remains in personal contact, via Corrlinks, (the prison email system) with over 400 women and men in federal prisons, nationwide.
CAN-DO is committed to educating the public about the conspiracy law and mandatory minimums that have led to many cases of injustice where minor participants in a drug conspiracy case receive more time than the kingpin, due to the plea bargain process that provides an escape valve for the most culpable who “cooperate” and punish the least culpable for their inability or unwillingness to provide, “substantial assistance.”
Over the last 30 years, the female prison population has grown by over 800%. The male prison population grew 416% during the same time period. Women are less likely to turn on their significant other than a man. For this reason, women represent the worst cases of injustice that CAN-DO has encountered. In many cases, all the men in a conspiracy case are already free and the woman is the only one still serving time, even though she was the least culpable, or in some cases, merely guilty by association.
In 2013 Amy Ralston Povah started Harm Reduction Productions, a film production company and made her first film about marijuana and the war on drugs called 420-The Documentary which won Best Documentary Feature at the Awareness Film Festival in Santa Monica. Due to extensive research, Amy encountered numerous cases of men serving life sentences without parole for cannabis and increased the CAN-DO umbrella to include assistance to anyone serving time for pot seeking a commutation of sentence from the President of the United States. Soon thereafter, CAN-DO increased its advocacy platform to include both men and women serving time for drug conspiracy cases.
By sharing these cases, CAN-DO hopes to generate public concern that will lead to relief for prisoners via the clemency process. Until our drug laws change, the only relief they have for mercy is clemency.
For more information, read the CAN-DO Mission Statement
Feel free to browse all of the sections of our website to learn more and to get involved.
