The governor of Wisconsin announced on Tuesday that he granted 30 pardons, primarily to people convicted of non-violent marijuana or other drug offenses.<\/p>\n
This raises the total number of pardons issued so far by Gov. Tony Evers (D) to 337 during his first three years in office, the most granted by a governor in the state\u2019s history at this point into a first term. Advocates have been urging state and federal executives to exercise this type of authority, particularly for cannabis cases as more jurisdictions enact legalization.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m proud of our work to give a second chance to folks who\u2019ve made amends and paid their debt to society,\u201d Evers said in a press release. \u201cThese individuals have recognized and acknowledged their past mistakes, and this sends a powerful message of redemption as each of them work to build a brighter, better future for themselves and their communities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of the 30 cases pardoned on Tuesday, 21 of them were related to the sale or possession of a controlled substance.<\/p>\n
\u201cMatthew Callaway was in his late teens when he sold marijuana to an officer 16 years ago,\u201d a description of one cases says. \u201cHe resides in Colorado, where he aspires to become a firefighter.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLeon Howard was 19 years old when officers found marijuana at his residence,\u201d another says<\/a>. \u201cLiving in Milwaukee, he has supported his neighborhood by organizing back-to-school block parties and street clean-ups on top of working two jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n Receiving a pardon doesn\u2019t mean that a person\u2019s record is expunged under Wisconsin law. Rather, it\u2019s an official act of forgiveness that restores rights like being able to serve on a jury, hold public office or receive certain professional licenses. People can apply<\/a> for clemency, and they\u2019re eligible for pardons if it\u2019s been at least five years since they completed their sentence, with no other pending criminal charges.<\/p>\n Drug laws are especially punitive in Wisconsin, where efforts to legalize marijuana, for example, have consistently stalled in the legislature despite the fact that the governor has pushed for reform.<\/p>\n That said, there are lawmakers who are working to enact policy changes. Just last month, a bipartisan pair of legislators introduced a bill to decriminalize low-level marijuana possession<\/a>.\u00a0In August, three senators separately filed legislation to legalize cannabis for adult use in the state<\/a>.<\/p>\n As it stands, marijuana possession is punishable by a maximum $1,000 fine and up to six months in jail for a first offense. People convicted of a subsequent offense would face a felony charge punishable by a maximum $10,000 fine and up to three and a half years in prison.<\/p>\n Evers tried to legalize recreational and medical marijuana\u00a0through his proposed state budget earlier this year<\/a>, but a GOP-led legislative committee\u00a0stripped the cannabis language from the legislation<\/a>\u00a0in May. Democrats\u00a0tried to add the provisions back<\/a>\u00a0through an amendment the next month, but Republicans blocked the move.<\/p>\n Other Republican lawmakers have\u00a0filed bills to more modestly decriminalize marijuana possession<\/a>\u00a0in the state, but none of those proposals advanced during this year\u2019s session.<\/p>\n Evers held a virtual town hall event in April where\u00a0he discussed his cannabis proposal<\/a>, emphasizing that polling demonstrates that Wisconsin residents back the policy change.<\/p>\n Locally, Wisconsin voters in three jurisdictions last year\u00a0approved non-binding advisory questions in favor of marijuana legalization<\/a>. Those moves came after Wisconsinites overwhelmingly embraced cannabis reform\u00a0by supporting more than a dozen similar measures across the state<\/a>\u00a0during the 2018 election.<\/p>\n Late last year, city officials in the state\u2019s capital, Madison, voted to remove most local penalties for cannabis possession and consumption,\u00a0effectively allowing use by adults 18 and older<\/a>.<\/p>\n But as lawmakers move to advance any number of reform proposals in the Badger State, there are still people facing the consequences of criminalization in the interim\u2014and that\u2019s where executive pardons can come in and help.<\/p>\n Evers might have set a record for pardons in Wisconsin, but he\u2019s not the only governor in the U.S. who\u2019s taking proactive steps to provide relief.<\/p>\n In May, the governor of Pennsylvania pardoned a doctor who was arrested, prosecuted and jailed for growing marijuana<\/a> that he used to provide relief for his dying wife. That came months after he granted expedited pardons for low-level cannabis offenses<\/a> for 69 people.<\/p>\n Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D) said recently that one of his key goals in his final year in office is to ensure that as many eligible people as possible submit applications<\/a> to have the courts remove their cannabis records and restore opportunities<\/a> to things like housing, student financial aid and employment.<\/p>\n After signing a bill to double the marijuana possession limit for adults in Colorado, Gov. Jared Polis (D) then directed state law enforcement to identify people with prior convictions<\/a> for the new limit who he may be able to pardon.<\/p>\n Last year, the governor of Illinois announced more than 500,000 expungements and pardons<\/a> for people with low-level marijuana offenses on their records. The massive clemency and records clearing sweep came about one year after the state\u2019s legal cannabis market launched.<\/p>\n In June, more than 15,000 people who were convicted for low-level marijuana possession in Nevada\u00a0were automatically pardoned under a resolution from the governor<\/a>\u00a0and Board of Pardons Commissioners.<\/p>\n Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee (D) has also\u00a0issued pardons for cannabis offenses<\/a>.<\/p>\n At the federal level, President Joe Biden has been facing pressure from numerous advocates and lawmakers to use his executive power to grant relief to those with marijuana convictions on their records.<\/p>\n White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said last week that the president has \u201cevery intention of using his clemency power,\u201d<\/a> but she declined to give specifics about when any presidential action might actually happen.<\/p>\n \u201cBiden needs to lean on his executive authority now. He has been delaying and underutilizing it so far,\u201d Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said last week, adding that he could use his authority to advance a number of progressive causes<\/a>\u00a0like marijuana reform.<\/p>\n The congresswoman was among the first to suggest that Biden use executive authority to advance marijuana reform, joining 36 of her colleagues on a letter to the president in February that implored him to grant mass pardons to people with federal cannabis convictions.\u00a0Biden recently received\u00a0a follow-up letter demanding a status update<\/a>.<\/p>\n A pair of Republican lawmakers last week sent Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris a separate letter\u00a0criticizing their \u201clack of action\u201d and \u201ccontinued silence\u201d<\/a>\u00a0on marijuana reform and urging the administration to reschedule cannabis under federal law. They\u00a0first made the request in July<\/a>.<\/p>\n These are just the latest examples of legislators taking a demand for reform directly to the president, who has disappointed advocates in his first year in office by declining to take meaningful steps to change the country\u2019s approach to cannabis despite campaigning on a pro-decriminalization and pro-rescheduling platform.<\/p>\n Since the election, neither the president or vide president\u2014who sponsored a legalization bill while serving in the Senate\u2014have spoken about their cannabis campaign pledges. And so far, the only pardons to take place under the Biden administration have\u00a0benefited turkeys at a ceremonial Thanksgiving event<\/a>.<\/p>\n That\u2019s despite the repeated pleas of lawmakers and advocates.<\/p>\n Last month, a group of senators separately\u00a0sent a letter urging Biden to use his executive authority<\/a>\u00a0to grant a mass pardon for people with non-violent marijuana convictions.<\/p>\n Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who led that letter, said during a recent interview that Biden could boost the economy and promote racial equity\u00a0with the \u201cstroke of a pen\u201d by granting the relief<\/a>.<\/p>\n A recently published Congressional Research Service (CRS) report affirmed that the president has it within his power to\u00a0grant mass pardons for cannabis offenses<\/a>. It also said that the administration can move to federally legalize cannabis without waiting for lawmakers to act.<\/p>\n Relatedly, a\u00a0group of more than 150 celebrities, athletes, politicians, law enforcement professionals and academics\u00a0signed a letter that was delivered to Biden<\/a>\u00a0in September, urging him to issue a \u201cfull, complete and unconditional pardon\u201d to all people with non-violent federal marijuana convictions.<\/p>\n Warren and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) separately\u00a0sent a letter to the attorney general in October<\/a>, making the case that the Justice Department should initiate a marijuana descheduling process in order to \u201callow states to regulate cannabis as they see fit, begin to remedy the harm caused by decades of racial disparities in enforcement of cannabis laws, and facilitate valuable medical research.\u201d<\/p>\n The White House said in August that the president was\u00a0looking into using his executive authority<\/a>\u00a0to grant clemency to people with certain non-violent drug convictions.<\/p>\n In April, Psaki was pressed on Biden\u2019s clemency promise for people with federal marijuana and said that process will start with modestly rescheduling cannabis<\/a>\u2014a proposal that advocates say wouldn\u2019t actually accomplish what she\u2019s suggesting.<\/p>\n New Hampshire Lawmakers File Multiple Marijuana Legalization Bills Ahead Of 2022 Session<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post Wisconsin Governor Grants Marijuana And Drug-Related Pardons, Setting State Clemency Record<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The governor of Wisconsin announced on Tuesday that he granted 30 pardons, primarily to people convicted of non-violent marijuana or other drug offenses. This raises the total number of pardons issued so far by Gov. Tony Evers (D) to 337 during his first three years in office, the most grantedContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52003"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52003"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52003\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52004,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52003\/revisions\/52004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: Wisconsin Governor Grants Marijuana And Drug-Related Pardons, Setting State Clemency Record<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"