Tag Archives: Casey

Federal Marijuana Possession Expungement Proposed

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We post news and comment on federal criminal justice issues, focused primarily on trial and post-conviction matters, legislative initiatives, and sentencing issues.

BILL TO CLEAN SLATES FOR POT OFFENSES INTRODUCED

Senators Robert Casey (D-PA) and Rand Paul (R-KY) have introduced bipartisan legislation intended to give millions of Americans a “clean slate” by sealing the criminal records of low-level and non-violent offenders who have successfully completed their sentences.

mario170628The Clean Slate Act, S.5266, would automatically seal the federal records of individuals convicted of simple drug possession and other low-level, nonviolent crimes involving marijuana, intended “to remove major barriers many Americans face in finding employment, securing housing, and accessing education,” Casey said in a press release. “This legislation would help more than 70 million Americans fully participate in society and provide them with a second chance to contribute to their communities and support their families.”

The measure is a companion bill to a House version filed 18 months aho by Reps Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE) and Nancy Mace (R-SC). That bill, H.R. 2930, has not yet made it to the House floor. The legislation has been introduced over the last several sessions, and a previous version advanced through the House Judiciary Committee in 2022 but was never voted on by the full House.

With only 20 more work days for the House and 24 days for the Senate scheduled before the end of the year, passage is unlikely.

Press Release, Casey, Paul Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Seal Records of Low-Level, Nonviolent Offenses (September 26, 2024)

S 5266, A bill to require automatic sealing of certain criminal records, and for other purposes  (September 25, 2024)

H.R. 2930, Clean Slate Act

Marijuana Moment, Federal Marijuana And Drug Convictions Would Be Automatically Sealed Under New Bipartisan Senate Bill (September 27, 2024)

– Thomas L. Root

Pay Us More And Everything Will Be Fine – Update for February 16, 2024

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We post news and comment on federal criminal justice issues, focused primarily on trial and post-conviction matters, legislative initiatives, and sentencing issues.

MONEY, THAT’S WHAT I WANT…

moneythatswhat231128Brandy Moore White, president of the union council representing 30,000 BOP employees, wrote in The Hill last week that the crumbling BOP infrastructure, “a rise in inmates deploying more sophisticated methods to smuggle illegal items into prisons,” and a lack of staff together “pose a real and significant threat to the health and safety of the 35,000 federal employees who work at the agency as well as the 158,000 inmates currently in custody.”

“The number of BOP officers and staff has fallen precipitously over the past seven years, from 43,369 staff at the beginning of 2016 to around 35,000 today — a 20% decline,” she wrote. But that only tells half the story, since the Bureau of Prisons can’t even maintain the lower level of staffing that Congress has authorized… One of the agency’s main workforce challenges is that the salaries paid to federal correctional officers pale in comparison to what employees can earn at other federal law enforcement agencies, at state and local agencies, and even some retail chains.”

Ruben Montanez-Mirabal, Patrick Shackelford, Quandelle Joseph, Perry Joyner, Brian Jenkins, Shauna Boatright. These are just a few of Ms. Moore White’s union rank-and-file BOP employees to have been convicted in the past few years of smuggling contraband into federal prisons. She might want to consider her own union members while she’s busy blaming inmates for the rise of contraband.

moneyhum170419Last week, Sens Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Bob Casey (D-PA) sponsored the Pay Our Correctional Officers Fairly Act, which will redefine BOP employees working in rural areas as being in higher-wage urban areas, thus boosting pay. Cassidy said the bill will “allow[]for competitive pay that better reflects the cost of living, commute times, alternative careers, and the hard work and dedication of BOP employees.”

A companion bill by the same name was filed in the House last May as H.R. 3199.

The Hill, The federal prison system is in crisis. Here are the top 3 reasons why (February 9, 2024 )

H.R. 3199, Pay Our Correctional Officers Fairly Act

S.___ (no number assigned), Pay Our Correctional Officers Fairly Act

– Thomas L. Root