A coalition of 67 Democratic members of Congress are calling on President Joe Biden to expand on his executive clemency work in the final months of his term, citing his past marijuana pardons as an example of his ability to provide \u201clife-changing\u201d relief to Americans.<\/p>\n
With Biden nearing the end of his time in office, Reps. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Jim Clyburn (D-SC) and Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA) led a group of colleagues in a letter to the president on Wednesday, urging him to take advantage of these last weeks to exercise his authority to \u201creunite families, address longstanding injustices in our legal system, and set our nation on the path toward ending mass incarceration.\u201d<\/p>\n
At a press conference on Wednesday, lawmakers and advocates drew attention to the issue, pressing Biden to use his clemency powers before former President Donald Trump takes office again in January. Mass incarceration is \u201ca tragedy, and it is a damning commentary on the state of our nation,\u201d Pressley said. \u201cBut there is a solution, and clemency is a part of that solution. President Biden can use clemency as a tool to put thousands of people on a pathway to healing and reunification with their families.\u201d<\/p>\n Clyburn said that he doesn\u2019t think \u201cany family exists in these United States that have not in some way been affected by the injustices that sometimes are all too prevalent in our judicial system.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut the election of Joe Biden was a very positive consequence on this issue, and he\u2019s already demonstrated that\u2026when he used his clemency powers to address the injustices that existed in our drug laws and those penalties,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re here today to ask him to take another step in that direction and to demonstrate, once again, a very positive consequence of his having been elected our 46th president, and to carry out his clemency powers in a very positive way.\u201d<\/p>\n In the letter, the lawmakers said the \u201cbloated prison system reflects and emboldens biases that undermine the ideals of our nation and diminishes trust in the rule of law,\u201d with mass incarceration \u201cdestabilizing families and inflicting intergenerational trauma.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNow is the time to use your clemency authority to rectify unjust and unnecessary criminal laws passed by Congress and draconian sentences given by judges,\u201d they wrote. \u201cThe grant of pardons and commutations and the restoration of rights will undoubtedly send a powerful message across the country in support of fundamental fairness and furthering meaningful criminal justice reform.\u201d<\/p>\n The coalition applauded the president\u2019s \u201cefforts to create a fair and just criminal legal system throughout your time in the White House,\u201d including his use of clemency authority such as \u201cpardoning people convicted of simple marijuana possession and LGBTQ+ former service members.\u201d<\/p>\n The actions demonstrate Biden\u2019s \u201cunderstanding of its life-changing impact,\u201d they said. \u201cThat is why we write in support of furthering those efforts and ask you to take decisive action to remove people from prison and reunite them with their loved ones and communities.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou have the support of millions of people across the country who have felt the harms of mass incarceration: young children longing to hug their grandparents, people who have taken responsibility for their mistakes, and those who simply were never given a fair chance. These are the people seeking help that only you can provide through the use of your presidential clemency power.\u201d<\/p>\n While the letter doesn\u2019t specifically call on Biden to grant additional marijuana pardons, advocates have been continuing pushing the administration for expanded cannabis clemency. Biden has so far limited his marijuana pardons to people who\u2019ve committed federal marijuana possession offenses, none of whom were actively incarcerated, and so the hope is he will grant relief to those still serving time in federal prison over non-violent cannabis convictions.<\/p>\n \u201cPresident Biden has the power to reunite families, but the clock is running out,\u201d Jason Ortiz, director of strategic initiatives at Last Prisoner Project (LPP), told Marijuana Moment. \u201cWe implore the president to right history and shift our approach on cannabis from punitive punishment to compassionate clemency.\u201d<\/p>\n Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) noted at Wednesday\u2019s event that the U.S. \u201crepresents just 5 percent of the world\u2019s population, yet we hold more than 20 percent of the global prison population.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOver 1.9 million individuals are currently incarcerated, with a disproportionate impact on communities of color. Black men are incarcerated at more than five times the rate of white men\u2014a legacy of systematic inequalities that have persisted for generations,\u201d she said. \u201cPresident Biden has a real opportunity to make a difference in these final days of his term, we are calling on him to act.\u201d<\/p>\n Other signatories of the letter to Biden include Reps. Cori Bush (D-MO), Troy Carter (D-LA), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) and more. Organizations backing the call to action include LPP, ACLU and JustLeadershipUSA, for example.<\/p>\n More than 10,000 people are stuck in the clemency backlog.<\/p>\n With just over 60 days left in his presidency, I’m joining my colleagues & advocates in urging @POTUS<\/a> to use his clemency authority to reunite families.<\/p>\n Tune in:https:\/\/t.co\/ormYkK8c3s<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (@RepPressley) November 20, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n In late September, the White House promoted the Biden-Harris administration\u2019s marijuana policy accomplishments<\/a>\u2014though it used less lofty language to describe the actions\u2014rather than broadly claiming premature victory in \u201cending\u201d the country\u2019s \u201cfailed approach\u201d to cannabis, as it has in the past.<\/p>\n \u201cPresident Biden issued categorical pardons of federal offenses of simple possession of marijuana\u2014lifting barriers to housing, employment, educational opportunities, and more for thousands of Americans,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n That\u2019s not strictly true. Presidential pardons represent formal forgiveness, but as the president has more recently acknowledged, they did not expunge prior records, so it\u2019s possible that collateral consequences could persist even with the symbolic relief.<\/p>\n Biden also directed a federal marijuana scheduling review that\u2019s ultimately led the Justice Department to propose moving cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). That rulemaking process is still underway, but likely will not be finalized before Trump assumes the Oval Office. The president-elect has voiced support for the rescheduling move, however.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Biden also recently\u00a0discussed his administration\u2019s cannabis actions and reiterated his belief<\/a>\u00a0that criminalization over minor marijuana offenses is an outdated policy during a speech at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation\u2019s (CBCF) 2024 Phoenix Awards Dinner.<\/p>\n Read the letter<\/a> to Biden on executive clemency action below:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n DEA Judge Issues Order Approving And Denying Witnesses For Marijuana Rescheduling Hearing And Laying Out Next Steps<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post Congressional Lawmakers Push Biden To Build On Marijuana Pardons With Expanded Clemency Effort Before He Leaves Office<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
A coalition of 67 Democratic members of Congress are calling on President Joe Biden to expand on his executive clemency work in the final months of his term, citing his past marijuana pardons as an example of his ability to provide \u201clife-changing\u201d relief to Americans. With Biden nearing the endContinue 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":[18,81,126],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79124"}],"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=79124"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79124\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79125,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79124\/revisions\/79125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n\n
\n
\n
\nRead More: Congressional Lawmakers Push Biden To Build On Marijuana Pardons With Expanded Clemency Effort Before He Leaves Office<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"