April, 14 2010, 11:33am EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Mike Meno, MPP director of communications 202-905-2030 or mmeno@mpp.org
MPP Urges Furlough of Marijuana Offenders Before Violent Convicts
In Congressional Testimony, MPP Calls for Prioritizing Release of Marijuana Offenders When States Furlough Prisoners to Save Money
WASHINGTON
Today, Aaron Houston, director of government relations for the Marijuana Policy Project, testified before the U.S. House of Representatives' Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies. In that testimony, he asked the subcommittee to urge the Department of Justice to encourage states that furlough prisoners because of budget crunches "to certify that no inmates convicted of crimes of violence, including sexual abuse and assault, will be released before non-violent offenders whose sole offense relates to the possession, sale, or manufacture of marijuana."
On March 31, the Associated Press reported a disturbing trend: "Inmates convicted of violent crimes are among those being freed early from California jails to save money, despite lawmakers' promises that they would exclude most dangerous prisoners and sex offenders ... An Associated Press review of inmate data shows that some of the freed criminals were convicted of assault with a deadly weapon, battery, domestic violence, and attacks on children and the elderly." The A.P. noted that similar programs were initiated or expanded in a dozen other states: Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Texas, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
Houston asked the subcommittee to urge the Department of Justice to consider conditioning grant awards to states and municipal correctional systems on their certification that no inmates convicted of crimes of violence will have been furloughed before non-violent marijuana offenders.
"Prioritizing the release of people whose only crime is marijuana-related just makes sense," Houston said.
The Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) is the number one organization in the U.S. legalizing cannabis. We passed 13 medical cannabis laws in the past 15 years, and we ran winning campaigns in eight of the 11 legalization states. No organization in the movement has changed as many cannabis laws, impacted as many patients and consumers, created as many new markets, or done more to end cannabis prohibition in the U.S. than MPP.
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Trump has picked Harmeet Dhillon as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. She has stated that it must be "made unsafe" for hospitals to provide trans care, and frequently shares Libs of TikTok posts. She intends to target trans people in blue states. Subscribe to support my journalism.
[image or embed]
— Erin Reed (@erininthemorning.com) December 10, 2024 at 8:14 AM
Reed continued:
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