Tag Archives: marijuana reform

Drug Crime Reform Lurches Forwards a Very Little Bit – Update for March 7, 2023

Leave a comment

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

BIDEN SUPPORTS EQUAL ACT, NEW POT POLICY NEARS

In a Presidential “Fact Sheet” issued last week, President Joe Biden  again called on Congress “to end once and for all the racially discriminatory crack-powder cocaine sentencing disparity and make the change fully retroactive. This step would provide immediate sentencing relief to the 10,000 individuals, more than 90% of whom are Black, currently serving time in federal prison pursuant to the crack/powder disparity. The Administration has urged the swift passage of the EQUAL Act.”

The EQUAL Act has been introduced in the House of Representatives as H.R. 1062 and in the Senate as S. 524.

marijuana221111Attorney General Merrick Garland told the Senate Judiciary Committee last Wednesday that the Dept of Justice is “still working on a marijuana policy” and that federal health officials are currently taking the lead on a broader review of marijuana’s federal scheduling status that President Joe Biden called for last October 6th.

The policy will “be very close to what was done in the Cole Memorandum,” Garland said, referring to an Obama-era policy that directed federal prosecutors generally to not interfere with state pot laws but which was later rescinded by the Trump administration. “We’re not quite done” with the marijuana policy review, Garland said, telling the Committee that finalizing a memo on crack cocaine prosecutions was a more pressing priority.

Garland also said that the process surrounding pardons that Biden granted to people who have committed cannabis possession offenses is “still working its way through the system to get the final certificates” to people so they can demonstrate they were given the presidential relief.

Two days later, DOJ announced that people eligible for the Biden pardon can now begin applying for a “certificate of proof” showing that they have been forgiven for the offense. The online application is run through the DOJ Office of the Pardon Attorney web page.

White House, Fact Sheet: The Biden-⁠Harris Administration Advances Equity and Opportunity for Black Americans and Communities Across the Country (February 27, 2023)

Marijuana Moment, Biden’s Attorney General Says DOJ Is ‘Still Working On’ Federal Marijuana Policy Approach (March 1, 2023)

CNN, Biden administration officially opens pardon request application for federal offenses of simple marijuana possession (March 3, 2023)

– Thomas L. Root

The Legislative Push for Drug Reform Resumes – Update for March 2, 2023

Leave a comment

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

MEANWHILE ON CAPITOL HILL…

equal220812I reported January 30th that the EQUAL Act was about to be reintroduced. A week ago, Sens Cory Booker (D-NJ), Thom Tillis (R-NC) and others, along with Reps Kelly Armstrong (R-ND), Don Bacon (R-NE) and Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), the House Democratic Leader, got it done, simultaneously introducing “bipartisan” EQUAL Act bills in the House (H.R. 1062) and the Senate (S.524).

Meanwhile, some Republican lawmakers are excited about a survey released last week by the Coalition for Cannabis Policy, Education, and Regulation (CPEAR). The survey found that 68% of respondents back ending federal marijuana prohibition. The result was 10% higher than a year ago.

“The polling is clear: federal cannabis prohibition is in direct contradiction to the overwhelming will of the American electorate, including a notable majority of conservative voters,” Rep. Dave Joyce (R-OH), co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, said. “I hope more of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will heed the call of their constituents and join me in working towards a safe and effectively regulated legal marketplace.”

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) was not as sanguine. Mace, who filed a comprehensive marijuana legalization bill in the last Congress, said that “it appears the only place where cannabis reform is unpopular is in Washington, DC.”

The lack of serious interest in pot reform shows at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, too. Last week, NORML complained that despite President Biden’s announcement last October of a blanket pardon for people convicted of simple federal marijuana possession, “none of the 6,557 Americans identified by the U.S. Sentencing Commission as being eligible for presidential pardons have received them.”

clemency170206Reason said last week that ”Biden, after reaping political benefits by announcing the pardons a month before the midterm elections, has not actually issued any. He got good press and may have helped Democrats in the midterms by motivating voters who care about drug policy reform. But his promise remains just that until he does what he said he would do.”

Candidate Biden promised a wholesale reform of the pardon system with a special White House commission deciding applications. In the first month of his presidency, hopes ran high that he would be taking decisive action to clean up a process that had left over 14,000 clemency applications languishing at the DOJ. But now, with over 18,000 applications awaiting action, we are no closer to a plan for dealing with them.

EQUAL Act (H.R. 1062)

EQUAL Act (S. 524)

Ripon Advance, Armstrong unveils bill to end federal sentencing disparity for cocaine offenses (February 22, 2023 )

Marijuana Moment, GOP Congressional Lawmakers Tout Poll Showing Republican Voters Back Federal Marijuana Legalization (February 23, 2023)

Reason, Four Months After Biden Promised Marijuana Pardons, He Has Not Issued Any (February 16, 2023)

– Thomas L. Root

Hopes for Marijuana Criminal Justice Reform In This Congress May Be Dead – Update for December 6, 2022

Leave a comment

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

“REEFER MADNESS” AS SENATE DEMOCRATS SELL OUT ON POT CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM

reefer181210It turns out not to matter that voters want cannabis reform, or that the MORE Act has passed the House and probably could have passed the Senate by a filibuster-proof majority, or even that Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer said just a few weeks ago that he was pushing for marijuana reform this year.

On Saturday, Axios broke the news that Schumer would bring the Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act (H.R. 1996) to a vote, giving up on comprehensive reform that included expungement of federal marijuana trafficking convictions. The compromise legislation does not legalize marijuana on a federal level, leaving pot as a Schedule I drug, like heroin and LSD.

The MORE Act (H.R. 3617) is dead. The replacement Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (S. 4591) – which also included retroactive expungement of federal marijuana convictions – also appears to be dead. The only measure that could include any criminal justice reform is the National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 8900), which the House may use as a vehicle for drug criminal justice reform.

Instead, Democrats in the Senate will push to liberalize banking access to the cannabis industry. The SAFE Banking Act would provide a “safe harbor” for regulated banks to work with cannabis firms in states where cannabis is legal.

Schumer says he will “more than likely” attach the legislation to a must-pass year-end bill like the NDAA, which gets a vote annually. The House of Representatives attached the EQUAL Act (H.R. 1693) to the NDAA last July 19 with bipartisan support, but no one is talking about the Senate doing the same.

ironyalert220523Ironically, the Schumer package also reportedly includes the Harnessing Opportunities by Pursuing Expungement Act of 2021 (H.R. 6129), known as the HOPE Act. According to a bill summary, the measure “authorizes the DOJ to make grants to states and local governments to reduce the financial and administrative burden of expunging convictions for state cannabis offenses.” In other words, Congress will authorize money to help states expunge marijuana convictions, but it won’t lift a finger to expunge federal convictions.

Yesterday, House lawmakers delayed committee consideration of the NDAA amid disagreements over key issues. Democratic leaders had hoped to see the NDAA advance with marijuana reform provisions attached.

The House Rules Committee was expected to take up the NDAA on Monday, but Chairman Jim McGovern (D-MA) deferred consideration, saying the “package is not ready yet.”

Abandonment of cannabis criminal justice reform by the Senate Democrats – who torpedoed the MORE Act to begin when Sen Cory Booker (D-NJ), Sen Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Schumer introduced the alternative CAOA – came at the end of a week in which the New York Times criticized last month’s Biden mass pardon of people with marijuana simple possession convictions. The Times reported, “And while many advocates welcomed the presidential act of forgiveness, they say far too many people — many of them Black and Latino — are not eligible for the pardons, leaving them with minor marijuana convictions that will continue to get in the way of job prospects, educational opportunities and financing for homes.”

warondrugs211028The Times observed that Biden was a “champion of aggressive drug laws earlier in his career, including the 1994 crime bill that led to mass incarceration,” although “he has more recently embraced leniency for those convicted of minor drug offenses.” Biden has said he does not support legalizing marijuana, “putting him at odds with 80% of self-described Democrats and 68% of Americans, according to a Gallup poll released this month,” The Times said.

The SAFE Banking Act is an incremental change in cannabis laws, being rolled out just as Marijuana Moment editorialized for taking such an approach. “It’s time to acknowledge that incrementalism is not selling out, it is not crumbs, and it is not failure,” the website said last week. “Failure is continuing to lock up our citizens while we quibble over who gets the spoils of a post-prohibition world.”

This leaves the Dept of Health and Human Services study rescheduling marijuana as the best hope for any change leading to sentencing reform. Last month, the National Law Journal reported that a panel of consulted legal experts estimated that marijuana will be rescheduled as a Schedule II or III drug by January 20, 2025.

Axios, Scoop: Senate plots pro-pot move for lame-duck (December 3, 2022)

Guardian, Senate Democrats to reportedly push banking reforms for cannabis industry (December 3, 2022)

Fox Business News, Senate aims to attach major marijuana legislation to end-of-year ‘must-pass’ bills: report (December 3, 2022)

Catholic News Agency, Bishops urge passage of bill that would give same sentences to crack and powder cocaine offenders (August 11, 2022)

Marijuana Moment, Democrats’ Focus On Social Justice Marijuana Bills Has Blocked Achievable Progress On Reform (December 2, 2022)

National Law Journal, Editor’s Roundtable: A New Biden Doctrine? (October 31, 2022)

Marijuana Moment, Fate Of Marijuana Banking Reform Uncertain As Lawmakers Delay Defense Bill Consideration Amid Disagreements (December 5, 2022)

– Thomas L. Root