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Yet with control of Congress at stake and Republicans weaponizing a law-and-order message against Democrats in their midterm election campaigns, the fate of the measure is in doubt. (cochs.org)
Third-rail for generations, legalization support has become a virtual requirement among Democrats after several blue-state voters mandated their own laws, and the congressional bill won votes on Wednesday from Republicans as well. (buzzfeednews.com)
Introduced by Nadler, the MORE Act is an amalgamation of several bills floated by Democrats in recent years - the fact that this particular measure emerged as the party's consensus shows Democrats want social justice to be a nonnegotiable component of legalization. (buzzfeednews.com)
Though some of her Republican colleagues may be reticent to endorse a bill that fully decriminalizes cannabis at the federal level, its biggest hurdle will be in gaining enough support from Democrats who view it as not going far enough. (cei.org)
On the other side are bills favored by Democrats, like the still-pending MORE Act , which would remove cannabis from the list of federally controlled substances (fully decriminalizing it at the federal level), expunge non-violent cannabis offenses, create a system of federal regulation, institute a federal excise tax, and earmark tax revenue for programs aimed at supporting disadvantaged individuals, businesses, and communities. (cei.org)
The First Step Act, which passed with overwhelming support from Republicans and Democrats, takes modest steps to alter the federal criminal justice system and ease very punitive prison sentences at the federal level. (vox.com)
Democrats tried to add the provisions back through an amendment, but Republicans blocked the move. (marijuanamoment.net)
Three Republicans and three Democrats have co-sponsored the bill, which would reduce crime and enhance public safety. (hrw.org)
Eight Republicans joined with Democrats to vote 209-201 to send her resolution to committees for possible consideration, like any other bill. (wate.com)
That is where Republicans as well as Democrats will learn more about what exactly this agreement looks like. (cnn.com)
The January 2021 run-off election shifted control of the Senate to Democrats, giving Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) the power to put cannabis reform legislation on the agenda. (cannabislaw.report)
Either the Republicans are going to give Democrats virtually everything that they want, or the federal government will shut down at the end of the day on Friday. (theeconomiccollapseblog.com)
In 2016 we gave the Republicans control of the White House, the Senate and the House of Representatives, and yet the Democrats just keep winning over and over again. (theeconomiccollapseblog.com)
I am never going to compromise on my most important principles , and any Republican that caves in and gives the Democrats whatever they want just to avoid a government shutdown should be ashamed of themselves. (theeconomiccollapseblog.com)
Republicans lead, Democrats follow. (tripod.com)
As usual, Democrats, as the mindless, corporate, "left" wing of the Republicrat corporate party, obeyed their Republican masters and kissed Republican butt (again) concerning drug war issues. (tripod.com)
Democrats follow Republican evil. (tripod.com)
The Democratic Party's success in securing a 51st Senate seat in the Georgia runoff Tuesday is certainly consequential, but it did nothing to avert an imminent shift in the national political environment: On Jan. 3, Republicans will take control of the House of Representatives, and it will be two years at least - if not much longer, given historical trends - before Democrats again have the power to enact major legislation. (trikarpurnews.com)
Democrats have two options to avert financial crisis, Peter Orszag, a former director of the Office of Management and Budget and the Congressional Budget Office, explains: Win over enough Senate Republicans to form a filibuster-proof majority to raise the debt ceiling, or raise it unilaterally through the reconciliation process, which would require only 50 votes. (trikarpurnews.com)
Any Democrats averse to taking such a painful vote now should consider how much leverage their party will lose once Republicans control the House - and how much higher the risk of default will be then," he writes in The Washington Post. (trikarpurnews.com)
Bipartisan support for this move is also high, with 74% of Independents, 84% of Democrats, and 58% of Republicans backing the proposal. (thecannabisindustry.org)

Singapore is the object of international condemnation over its resumption of the death penalty for drug offenses. (stopthedrugwar.org)
A growing coalition with over 140 organizations as of this writing has condemned President Trump's call to institute the death penalty for drug offenses. (enewspf.com)

Although prison should be used as a last resort to protect society from violent or dangerous individuals, more people are sent to prison in the United States for nonviolent drug offenses than for crimes of violence," the authors determined. (jacksonvillefreepress.com)
Mandatory minimums - The First Step Act would shorten mandatory prison sentences for nonviolent drug offenses and give judges more leeway to exempt certain cases. (ryanbeasleylaw.com)

Pleas to legalize cannabis have echoed through the US Capitol since at least the 1970s, when pot-smoking hippies in suits started lobbying against prohibition, but comprehensive legalization bills had never passed out of a Congressional committee - until Wednesday. (buzzfeednews.com)
The House Judiciary Committee took a landslide 24-10 vote to approve legislation that would eliminate federal penalties for cannabis, remove conviction records, and invest in communities - particularly communities of color who have been disproportionately hurt by drug enforcement - to ensure they reap a share of legalization's profits. (buzzfeednews.com)
The MORE Act would eliminate penalties for cannabis and THC, its primary psychoactive ingredient, at the federal level by removing the drug from the Controlled Substances Act. (buzzfeednews.com)
The bill offers several grants designed to compensate for historic ills against victims of cannabis law enforcement -particularly people of color who have long been disproportionately, and deliberately, targeted and convicted of cannabis offenses. (buzzfeednews.com)
Among other measures, the grants would offer legal aid, drug treatment, and loans to enter the cannabis industry - which has been dominated by white entrepreneurs since states began to legalize in 2012. (buzzfeednews.com)
Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco)'s Senate Bill 1186 , which restores voter-created access to medical cannabis across the state by requiring cities to provide consumers access to purchase medicinal cannabis, passed the Senate Business and Professions Committee by a vote of 8-3 on Thursday. (stopthedrugwar.org)
The bill would allow patients with one of 12 qualifying conditions to access a two-week supply of medical cannabis in the form of oils, vaporizers, salves, topicals and patches with a doctor's recommendation from their doctor. (stopthedrugwar.org)
For several years cannabis efforts in Congress have centered on two competing approaches. (cei.org)
On one side are GOP-backed bills, like the STATES Act , which would exempt state-authorized commercial cannabis activities from federal interference without taking further steps to address the disparities created by the War on Drugs. (cei.org)
At just over 130 pages, the States Reform Act is the most comprehensive cannabis legislation ever introduced in Congress. (cei.org)
Like the MORE Act, the SRA removes cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act's list of scheduled drugs, expunges non-violent offenses related to cannabis, and creates programs aimed at supporting small and disadvantaged cannabis businesses. (cei.org)
Both the MORE Act and the SRA expunge nonviolent cannabis-related offenses, but, unlike the MORE Act, Rep. Mace's bill does not limit offenses to those committed after 1971. (cei.org)
The MORE Act provides broad protections for cannabis users, including barring federal agencies from denying public benefits, employment, loans, or immigration services on the basis of cannabis use or non-violent cannabis offenses. (cei.org)
The explicit protections listed in Rep. Mace's bill focus mainly on veterans who, for instance, had less-than-honorable discharges due to cannabis use upgraded to a "general" discharge, which would entitle them to certain benefits. (cei.org)
Although efforts to legalize cannabis for adult recreational use failed to win majority support prior to the end of the legislative session, both the New York State Assembly and New York State Senate have approved a significant decriminalization bill. (coleschotz.com)
The bill, which Governor Andrew Cuomo has said he will sign, generally (1) reduces penalties for small-scale cannabis possession and (2) provides for automatic expungement of certain low-level cannabis related criminal records. (coleschotz.com)
At the request of the defendant, the court in which that person was convicted must vacate a judgment of conviction and dismiss the charges relating to certain prior cannabis-related offenses, including convictions for possession of less than 25 grams and for public use. (coleschotz.com)
Marijuana Moment is already tracking more than 1,000 cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. (marijuanamoment.net)
The Republican-led medical cannabis legislation is also fairly restrictive, as it prohibits smokable marijuana products and doesn't allow patients to grow cannabis for personal use. (marijuanamoment.net)
This isn't the only cannabis bill that's up for consideration in the Wisconsin legislature. (marijuanamoment.net)
In August, three senators separately filed legislation to legalize cannabis for adult use in the state . (marijuanamoment.net)
Gov. Tony Evers (D) tried to legalize recreational and medical marijuana through his proposed state budget last year , but a GOP-led legislative committee stripped the cannabis language from the legislation . (marijuanamoment.net)
Unlike the last version, the new letter comes with an attachment-at the request of Kushner's office, advocates said-of a specific list of 24 people who are currently behind bars for cannabis offenses, including several who are serving life sentences. (marijuanamoment.net)
And while there are a number of proposals being introduced in Congress to finally put an end to cannabis prohibition, they tend to lack any real avenue of relief for those who are serving time for selling cannabis. (marijuanamoment.net)
After a shift in political power in Congress and the White House, there are strong indications that the federal prohibition on cannabis in the United States will come to an end. (cannabislaw.report)
Majority Leader Schumer historically has not been supportive of full legalization and has preferred to take small steps by backing legislation to decriminalize cannabis. (cannabislaw.report)
On February 1, 2021, he released a joint statement with Senator Corey Booker (D-NJ) and Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) stating their intention to introduce "comprehensive cannabis reform legislation. (cannabislaw.report)
Senator Booker will push for an emphasis on racial equity, expunging past cannabis arrest records, and expanding job opportunities for citizens most impacted by the failed War on Drugs. (cannabislaw.report)
We are committed to working together to put forward and advance comprehensive cannabis reform legislation that will not only turn the page on this sad chapter in American history, but also undo the devastating consequences of these discriminatory policies. (cannabislaw.report)
During the last Congress, the House of Representatives passed the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, which would legalize cannabis and expunge past criminal records of people convicted of cannabis-related offenses. (cannabislaw.report)
It is not clear yet what President Joe Biden has decided to do regarding any existing cannabis reform legislation, but he did say during his presidential campaign that he would support rescheduling cannabis to make it legal. (cannabislaw.report)
A major cannabis reform effort, the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act, has been in the works since 2013 when Representative Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) first introduced the bill. (cannabislaw.report)
The federal government's classification of cannabis as a Schedule I substance puts it in the same category as more lethal drugs like heroin and LSD while drugs like fentanyl are not considered less severe than marijuana since it falls under Schedule II. (thecannabisindustry.org)
Even though the SAFE Banking Act has been in the House of Congress seven times, federally insured banking services and modern digital banking solutions like electronic payment processing are still inaccessible to the cannabis industry. (thecannabisindustry.org)

Second, dropping the sentencing provisions of the Grassley-Durbin legislation from the Trump administration's reform conversations guarantees that there will be no significant inroads made into reversing mass incarceration. (newsweek.com)
When Donald Trump signed a long-sought criminal justice reform measure into law in 2018, he had visions of using the legislation to make major inroads with Black and moderate swing voters. (cochs.org)
Three-and-a-half years later, few Republicans - Trump included - seem not at all interested in talking about it. (cochs.org)
Borden said, "We are committed to recognizing if and when the Trump administration takes good steps in drug policy or criminal justice. (enewspf.com)
In the meanwhile, however, the overall Trump administration record in the drug war is a horrific one. (enewspf.com)
The measure, which Trump signed into law, is the most significant criminal justice reform legislation in years. (vox.com)
In his State of the Union speech on Tuesday, President Donald Trump held up criminal justice reform legislation as one of his big accomplishments. (vox.com)
This legislation reformed sentencing laws that have wrongly and disproportionately harmed the African-American community," Trump said. (vox.com)
After it passed Congress in December, Trump signed it into law. (vox.com)
Even though Trump ran on a "tough on crime" platform in which he promised to support harsh prison sentences, the president came to support the legislation - in large part thanks to the backing of key advisers, including his son-in-law Jared Kushner. (vox.com)
A group of celebrities, Republican officials and civil rights advocates sent a letter to President Trump on Wednesday, urging him to pardon or commute the sentences of people in federal prison for nonviolent federal marijuana offenses. (marijuanamoment.net)
Among the more than 50 signatories of the new letter is Alice Johnson, who appeared at the Republican National Convention and whose story was featured in Trump campaign ads after her drug sentence was commuted by the president. (marijuanamoment.net)
President Trump, the Republican leadership and the conservative Koch brothers are on board. (ryanbeasleylaw.com)

This week, Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) became the 11th Republican to sign onto the EQUAL Act ( S. 59 ), which would eliminate the sentencing disparity in crack and powder cocaine offenses. (stopthedrugwar.org)
Congress should pass the EQUAL Act to finally end the unfair sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine," Racine demanded. (jacksonvillefreepress.com)
For years, we have known that harsh drug sentencing disparities between crack and powder cocaine have created a racially disparate impact on Black communities," Congressman Bobby Scott (D-Va.), the bill's co-sponsor, said following passage of the measure. (jacksonvillefreepress.com)

But despite these changing political winds, reform advocates still say they are optimistic that Congress will pass the EQUAL Act, which would end federal sentencing disparities between crack and cocaine offenses. (cochs.org)
A South Carolina medical marijuana bill advances, the Senate is poised to vote soon on a bill to finally eliminate the crack-powder cocaine sentencing disparity, and more. (stopthedrugwar.org)
Starting with the 1980s version of the "War on Drugs," those caught with small amounts of crack - primary people of color - received decades longer prison sentences than those with powder cocaine - overwhelmingly White individuals. (jacksonvillefreepress.com)
Crack cocaine amnesty - Drug sentencing laws enacted in the 1990s harshly punished crack while giving relatively light sentences for powder cocaine. (ryanbeasleylaw.com)

and to pass legislation sponsored by Senators Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) to impose human rights conditions on some aid to the Philippines while funding public health work and human rights advocacy. (enewspf.com)
Some Senate Republicans, led by Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, took issue with the mild reforms in the First Step Act, even as Republican senators like Chuck Grassley (IA) and Lindsey Graham (SC) came on board. (vox.com)
These three senators are likely to offer a comprehensive bill that includes language from each of their previously introduced bills. (cannabislaw.report)
Sessions won the election 52 percent to 45 percent, and Alabama was represented by two Republican senators for the first time since Reconstruction. (encyclopediaofalabama.org)
Reforming the law to prevent such schemes has bipartisan support: Nearly 40 senators, including 16 Republicans, have signed on to a bill introduced in the Senate over the summer, and the House passed its own bill in September. (trikarpurnews.com)
But this week, there were signs of a potential breakthrough when a bipartisan pair of senators reportedly drafted a framework for legislation that would create a pathway to citizenship for two million DACA recipients and improve the asylum system. (trikarpurnews.com)
While Senator Thom Tillis called it "bullshit," other Republican senators followed suit. (newrepublic.com)

The bill would remove low-level drug crimes as deportable offenses and would require that certain criminal convictions come with a prison sentence of at least five years. (wikipedia.org)
The legislation would outlaw many of the mandatory drug sentencing provisions that have imposed lengthy prison terms in cases of drug kingpins and lower level offenses, alike. (newsweek.com)
The legislation, which aims to end a longstanding racial disparity in federal prison sentences for drug possession, passed the House overwhelmingly last year, with more than 360 votes. (cochs.org)
The spiraling number of overdose deaths and hospitalizations among California prison inmates fell dramatically during the first two years of a program that uses prescribed drugs to treat more incarcerated addicts than any such program in the country. (cochs.org)
Thousands of individuals - overwhelmingly people of color - have been subjected, by the federal government, to unjust prison sentences for marijuana offenses," House Judiciary Committee chair Jerry Nadler said in opening remarks that nodded to the groundwork laid by Rep. Barbara Lee of California. (buzzfeednews.com)
The bill would apply retroactively and would allow thousands of crack offenders-mainly Black men-to have their sentences reduced and get out of prison. (stopthedrugwar.org)
According to Human Rights Watch, African Americans comprise 62.7 percent and White people 36.7 percent of all drug offenders admitted to state prison. (jacksonvillefreepress.com)
Relative to population, Black men are admitted to state prison on drug charges at a rate that is 13.4 times greater than that of White men. (jacksonvillefreepress.com)
For example, in seven states, Black individuals constitute between 80 and 90 percent of all drug offenders sent to prison. (jacksonvillefreepress.com)
In at least 15 states, Black men are admitted to prison on drug charges at 20 to 57 times greater than white men. (jacksonvillefreepress.com)
These racial disparities in drug offenders admitted to prison skew the racial balance of state prison populations. (jacksonvillefreepress.com)
Back then, the legislation made no effort to cut the length of prison sentences on the front end, although it did take some steps to encourage rehabilitation programs in prison that inmates could use, in effect, to reduce how long they're in prison. (vox.com)
It restricts the current practice of stacking gun charges against drug offenders to add possibly decades to prison sentences. (vox.com)
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. (marijuanamoment.net)
The First Step Act would scale back harsh sentences for some drug crimes, improve prison conditions and provide more help for prisoners when they re-enter society. (ryanbeasleylaw.com)
Many people were sent to prison for relatively minor third offenses, and there was often racial disparity in who got life sentences. (ryanbeasleylaw.com)

Thousands of federal drug defendants will be sentenced to decades of incarceration and resources will be squandered that could more effectively be directed to prevention and treatment initiatives. (newsweek.com)
In large part because of the extraordinary racial disparities in incarceration for drug offenses, Black people are incarcerated for all offenses at 8.2 times the rate of White. (jacksonvillefreepress.com)
The authors concluded that the imprisonment of African Americans for drug offenses is part of a more significant over-incarceration crisis in the United States. (jacksonvillefreepress.com)

A Los Angeles federal grand jury returned an indictment Thursday evening charging Hunter Biden with failing to pay more than $1 million in federal taxes over a four-year period and other tax-related offenses, as top Republicans have mulled drafting articles of impeachment against President Joe Biden. (law360.com)
During Sessions' first year in Congress, he notably voted in favor of both articles of impeachment against Pres. (encyclopediaofalabama.org)

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) also met Tuesday with advocates and formerly incarcerated leaders, where he described the legislation as 'a priority. (stopthedrugwar.org)
While both of the Republicans lost, prisoner advocates worry the discourse has re-sparked irrational fears and will spook conservatives who have in recent years joined the reform movement. (vice.com)
Mental health advocates will lobby for Congress to approve funding for the most critical programs, Honberg says. (wunc.org)
Several prominent Republicans have become outspoken advocates of pushing forward on the GOP's longstanding effort to impeach Mayorkas. (wate.com)

It eases a "three strikes" rule so people with three or more convictions, including for drug offenses, automatically get 25 years instead of life, among other changes. (vox.com)
In all, more than a dozen states have enacted legislation in recent years facilitating the process of having past marijuana convictions either expunged or sealed from public view. (typepad.com)
In December, US Representatives Dave Joyce (R-OH) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) introduced federal legislation to provide funding to state and local governments for the purposes of expunging the records of those with marijuana-related convictions. (typepad.com)

The legalization tide has swept right past Joe Biden , the former vice president and antidrug former senator, who stuck out as an outlier in the Democratic presidential race this week by opposing federal legalization and questioning whether pot is a "gateway drug. (buzzfeednews.com)
Republicans have closely scrutinized the Biden administration's handling of the border with Mexico for months and sought to build an impeachment case against Mayorkas. (fox5sandiego.com)
But at least on Saturday, an important development as President Biden, the White House reached that agreement with House Republicans, allowing them to move forward and try to avert a debt default on June 5. (cnn.com)
The Biden administration's proposal to seize drug patents if the prices of the medicines are deemed unreasonable is expected to face significant legal pushback, and the potential effects on the pharmaceutical industry may not be what the administration had in mind, experts say. (law360.com)
The Biden administration announced a framework Thursday morning that proposes including prices as a factor when deciding if the public can easily obtain a taxpayer-funded drug and allowing government agencies to license the patent behind the product to another party if the cost is determined to be too high. (law360.com)
Kentucky, Colorado, and Kansas are three states already actively considering enacting the Biden pardons and drafting new reform bills for marijuana cases. (thecannabisindustry.org)

In November, a bipartisan pair of legislators introduced a bill to decriminalize low-level marijuana possession . (marijuanamoment.net)
As it stands, marijuana possession is punishable by a maximum $1,000 fine and up to six months in jail for a first offense. (marijuanamoment.net)
Other Republican lawmakers have filed bills to more modestly decriminalize marijuana possession in the state, but none of those proposals advanced during last year's session. (marijuanamoment.net)

The has received support from some Democratic Party members including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Karen Bass, Ilhan Omar, Pramila Jayapal and 30 Members of Congress. (wikipedia.org)
Not only was it important for both sides to reach an agreement, but then two, it is what this legislative text will say, showing that to members of Congress and then later a vote on the House floor. (cnn.com)
Members of Congress on Thursday unveiled a revamped version of a bipartisan bill to allow states, tribes and U.S. territories to implement their own marijuana policies without interference from federal prohibition. (law360.com)
Members of Congress will have limited staff and won't be as responsive (well, as responsive as they normally are) to constituents. (theeconomiccollapseblog.com)

The New Way Forward Act (H.R. 5383) is a proposed legislation introduced in the U.S. Senate and House on December 10, 2019 by Jesús "Chuy" García, which focuses on immigration reform. (wikipedia.org)
Despite bipartisan support for sentencing reform in Congress, the legislation has been held up in the Senate by a handful of Republicans. (newsweek.com)
The 100:1 disparity was created by the 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act, but reduced to an 18:1 disparity by the 2010 Fair Sentencing Act, and that reform was made retroactive by the 2018 First Step Act. (stopthedrugwar.org)
The reform is now closer to happening after Congress two weeks ago passed the legislation by a 143-16 vote - the only opposition came from Republicans. (jacksonvillefreepress.com)
However, last week, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) introduced the States Reform Act (SRA), a " compromise bill " she hopes can bridge this partisan divide. (cei.org)
And in the interim as lawmakers pursue reform, the governor has issued more than 300 pardons during his years in office, primarily to people convicted of non-violent marijuana or other drug offenses. (marijuanamoment.net)
The months of October and November have brought a flurry of activity to DPF s public policy office, including tracking end-of-session legislative activity by the 105th Congress, and publishing Election 98: The Vote for Medical Marijuana and Drug Policy Reform. (tripod.com)
This in-depth analysis of this year s successful drug policy reform ballot initiatives was distributed to the media, the public, and drug policy reformers to summarize the different initiatives and evaluate key provisions in each. (tripod.com)
We have included an overview of the results of the drug policy reform initiatives and a list of the major drug policy-related legislation we followed this year. (tripod.com)
Overwhelmingly Approve Medical Marijuana, Drug Policy Reform Initiatives. (tripod.com)
In states across the country, voters approved medicinal marijuana and broader drug policy reform initiatives on November 3. (tripod.com)
But following Biden's pardon, many hope that Congress' marijuana reform will pass the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act for the industry. (thecannabisindustry.org)
The Gang of Eight plans to introduce a bill based on their proposal in April 2013, while a bipartisan group of House members are also reportedly working on a plan for immigration reform. (prisonlegalnews.org)

The U.S. Congress held six committee hearings relevant to border issues this week, while Republican legislators conveyed plans to impeach Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over the situation at the border. (wola.org)
WASHINGTON (AP) - The House voted Monday to push off a Republican effort to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, ending for now a threat against the Cabinet secretary that has been brewing ever since Republicans took the House majority in January. (wate.com)
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a hard-right Republican from Georgia, forced a vote on impeaching Mayorkas to the floor through a rule that allows any single member to force a snap vote on resolutions, including constitutional matters such as impeachment. (wate.com)
Greene in a floor speech Monday accused Mayorkas of a "pattern of conduct that is incompatible with the laws of the United States," as she cited record numbers of illegal border crossings, an influx of drugs and his "open border policies. (wate.com)
The renewed push to impeach Mayorkas is yet another headache for new House Speaker Mike Johnson, who is already juggling both a potential impeachment vote and delicate negotiations over government funding legislation to avert a federal shutdown at the end of the week. (fox5sandiego.com)
Johnson earlier this month said in a Fox News interview that he believed Mayorkas has committed "impeachable offenses," but also warned that the House has "limited time and resources. (fox5sandiego.com)

The vote and its GOP support showed a growing appetite to reach for Congress' most powerful weapons and redefine what the Constitution means by impeachable "high crimes and misdemeanors. (wate.com)
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - Top state prosecutors from across the country are again urging Congress to pass legislation allowing state prisons to jam the signals of cellphones smuggled to inmates, devices the attorneys argue allow prisoners to plot violence and carry out crimes. (wnem.com)
If inmates were blocked from using contraband cell phones, we could prevent serious levels of drug trafficking, deadly riots, and other crimes from happening," the prosecutors wrote. (wnem.com)

The bipartisan bill had 41 cosponsors but died in the Senate Public Safety Committee. (stopthedrugwar.org)

After Senator Tom Cotton and then-Senator Jeff Sessions objected to the bill in 2016, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell did not schedule the bill for a floor vote despite its passage by the Senate Judiciary Committee. (newsweek.com)
But Republicans, leading a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on drug policy, branded the Clinton administration strategy a clear failure and insisted it develop a tougher response that depends more on police, courts and jails. (marijuanalibrary.org)
Unfortunately, the bill is going nowhere fast, unless members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, on which Sen. Hatch serves, show up for their committee hearings. (hrw.org)
When the Senate Judiciary Committee was scheduled to consider the bill, Republicans refused to attend. (hrw.org)
The Senate Judiciary Committee, led by Republican Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, killed the nomination, citing Sessions' "gross insensitivity" to racial issues, despite Sessions' denials of the allegations of racism and discrimination. (encyclopediaofalabama.org)

In Alaska, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington, voters passed medical marijuana initiatives, while Arizona and Oregon voters rejected attempts by the state legislatures to make drug laws more repressive. (tripod.com)

failed verification] The bill was reintroduced in the 117th congress in 2021 (H.R. 536). (wikipedia.org)
Evie Lopoo at Columbia University Justice Lab's Square One Project, writes: The House created Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) Caucus in 2021, which is designed to crowdsource ways in which Congress and the federal government can help facilitate social determinant interventions. (cochs.org)

The bill intends to give immigration judges discretion when deciding immigration claims for immigrants with criminal records in the United States,[clarification needed][dubious - discuss] changes immigration enforcement by ending mandatory detention in specific cases and intends to remove private detention centers for immigrants. (wikipedia.org)
Without further ado, please enjoy the news: UPn 02/10/95 Administration says drug use growing By PAUL BASKEN WASHINGTON, Feb. 10 (UPI) -- U.S. drug czar Lee Brown on Friday conceded a growing use of illegal drugs nationwide, but urged the Republican-led Congress not to abandon the administration's emphasis on treatment over enforcement. (marijuanalibrary.org)
The Senate on Thursday approved a bill aimed at helping minority entrepreneurs and people adversely impacted by previous drug law enforcement gain a foothold in the legal marijuana industry. (stopthedrugwar.org)
A bipartisan group of lawmakers last week introduced a comprehensive bill aimed at improving law enforcement in Indian Country. (indianz.com)
The Indian committee held a series of hearings during the 110th Congress to discuss law enforcement issues. (indianz.com)
Thune led efforts during the 110th Congress to create a $2 billion fund for Indian law enforcement, health and water programs. (indianz.com)
Attempts to reclassify marijuana so that doctors may prescribe it have been blocked repeatedly by Drug Enforcement Administration bureaucrats with no medical training -- just what Kennedy said the CSA is not meant to do,' Mirken said. (alternet.org)
This paper is yet another in the on-going series of student papers supported by the Drug Enforcement and Policy Center . (typepad.com)
The bill is also supported by law enforcement groups and the American Civil Liberties Union, among others. (ryanbeasleylaw.com)
Prohibition, for example, or its more modern iteration, the "War on Drugs," which was sold to voters as a necessary means of ridding their communities of substance abuse and crime, but quickly morphed into overcrowded prisons, bloated corrections budgets, broken families and innumerable abuses by law enforcement agencies. (prisonlegalnews.org)

The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act is the first comprehensive national legalization bill to pass a congressional committee. (buzzfeednews.com)
He has offered tentative support for legislation to give formal federal permission to states enacting marijuana legalization, though Republican leadership has blocked the bill from moving. (enewspf.com)
Though there seems to be broad support for the social equity provisions of the MORE Act, the regulatory burden and high taxes it would impose have led even some staunch supporters of legalization to withhold support for the bill, leaving it stuck in a sort of limbo since being approved by the House. (cei.org)
Support for legalization of marijuana has grown in each partisan group since 2013, with a slim majority of Republicans now supporting legalization," Marquette Law School said in a press release. (marijuanamoment.net)
Our legislation acknowledges these realities by finally committing the resources needed to secure the border, modernize and streamline our current legal immigration system, while creating a tough but fair legalization program for individuals who are currently here," the CIR proposal states. (prisonlegalnews.org)

Among them, the House Energy and Commerce Committee has relatively few sponsors of the bill, so skeptical lawmakers could move to amend the legislation or slow it down. (buzzfeednews.com)
But there are signs of movement, including among Republican lawmakers. (marijuanamoment.net)
More than a dozen Republican Wisconsin lawmakers announced in January that they were filing a bill to legalize medical marijuana in the state, for example. (marijuanamoment.net)
Republican state lawmakers from Kansas, Maine and Missouri also signed on, as did a former U.S. attorney, actor Danny Trejo, the New Haven, Missouri police chief and former New Mexico governor and presidential candidate Gary Johnson. (marijuanamoment.net)

Singapore resumed executions of drug offenders on March 30, with others in line to be hung shortly, and that is sparking both condemnation abroad and rare public protests at home. (stopthedrugwar.org)
The US has never brought a death penalty case for a drug offense, but following the president's call for executions last spring, Attorney General Sessions sent a memo to prosecutors urging them to consider seeking the death penalty in some cases. (enewspf.com)

Brown, the administration's chief of drug control policy, did not dispute that the problem was growing. (marijuanalibrary.org)

But Brown insisted the administration -- which requested a fiscal 1996 drug control budget of $14.6 billion, up 9.7 percent over this year -- had a "tougher than ever" strategy for confronting the problem, led by its continuing emphasis on treatment programs for hardcore users. (marijuanalibrary.org)
Recently the president released Alice Johnson, a 63-year old grandmother who had been imprisoned since 1996 on a drug offense, and he suggested there could be many more pardons. (enewspf.com)

and accuses Singapore's government of using "faked data" to justify their drugs death penalty. (enewspf.com)

The House Judiciary Committee passed a hard-line border and migration bill that may not even have enough Republican votes to pass the House, much less the Democratic-majority Senate. (wola.org)
Here are just some of the most pressing legislative priorities on the party's agenda that could be accomplished without fear of a Republican filibuster in the Senate, or with the possibility of enough Republican votes to block such a move. (trikarpurnews.com)

The bill encourages more prosecution of crime in Indian Country, increases penalties for reservation offenders, reauthorizes key funding and establishes consistent protocols to address sexual violence. (indianz.com)
Sessions ordered prosecutors to seek the maximum punishment available, prompting widespread fear of a return to the late 1980s and early 1990s, when the federal prisons filled with drug offenders. (vice.com)
Status offenders are youth who engage in non-criminal offenses such as running away or truancy - conduct that would not be considered criminal if committed by an adult. (hrw.org)

By eliminating the disparity entirely, the bill would address longstanding racial discrimination in our criminal justice policy. (jacksonvillefreepress.com)
Federal surveys and other data clearly show that this racial disparity bears scant relation to racial differences in drug offending. (jacksonvillefreepress.com)

As states continue to legalize marijuana, we must also enact measures that will lift up people who were unfairly targeted in the War on Drugs. (cannabislaw.report)
Congress appears poised to enact significant criminal justice reforms. (ryanbeasleylaw.com)

Committee leaders in the House and Senate unveiled draft legislation making technical corrections to a sweeping retirement policy overhaul Congress passed in December 2022, expanding access to and incentives for employer-sponsored retirement plans, with the bill release quickly garnering praise from a top industry group. (law360.com)
Congress needs to pass the overhaul now, when it has willing majorities in both houses and well before anyone casts a ballot in 2024. (trikarpurnews.com)

Congress is staring down a Dec. 16 deadline to pass a budget for the 2023 fiscal year. (trikarpurnews.com)

The bill aims to close private prisons or private detention centers for immigrants beginning three years after the bill's possible enactment. (wikipedia.org)
President Clinton has failed in the first two years of his administration to use his office as he should, as a bully pulpit against the use of illegal drugs," and has pursued policies such as shifting interdiction efforts that have been a "dismal failure," Hatch said. (marijuanalibrary.org)
The EQUAL Act also removes conspiracy charges that have contributed to numerous years of sentencing for drug offenses, particularly African Americans. (jacksonvillefreepress.com)
It was a hard-fought victory for states' rights that will no doubt have tremendous repercussions for several states looking to push their own Death With Dignity legislations in the coming years. (alternet.org)
The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Reauthorization Act of 2008, the most important juvenile justice legislation Congress has addressed in years, is up for consideration in the Senate next week. (hrw.org)
Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) will sponsor the Senate version of the bill, as he has in years past. (cannabislaw.report)
This period between an election and the transition of power is known as a lame-duck session, and in recent years, it's often when Congress has been most productive. (trikarpurnews.com)

The Pennsylvania House speaker, Republican Mike Turzai, is running for governor, and the majority leader, Republican Dave Reed, is running for Congress. (inquirer.com)
That opposition at times appeared to endanger the legislation, as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell voiced skepticism of causing an intraparty fight over the issue. (vox.com)
In writing the court's majority opinion, Justice Kennedy stated that Ashcroft made an overly broad interpretation of the CSA, which was designed to curb drug trafficking and not to impede the actions of state-licensed physicians. (alternet.org)
Simply, we need Congress to pass legislation giving states the authority to implement a cell phone jamming system to protect inmates, guards, and the public at large," the 22 prosecutors - all Republicans, led by South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson - wrote in a letter sent Wednesday to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. (wnem.com)
The majority of U.S. inmates are in due to the drug war. (tripod.com)

I want to thank my colleagues, Representatives Hakeem Jeffries, Kelly Armstrong, and Don Bacon, for working with me on this bill, and I urge my colleagues in the Senate to move quickly to send this bill to President Biden's desk. (jacksonvillefreepress.com)
Therefore, when the Schumer/Wyden/Booker legislation passes both chambers of Congress and is on President Biden's desk, it is likely that the President will sign it into law. (cannabislaw.report)

The bill has received strong opposition from the Republican Party on claims that it would increase crime and weaken the country. (wikipedia.org)

Once Ashcroft became attorney general, however, he declared that physician-assisted suicide was not a 'legitimate medical purpose' for prescribing overdoses of federally regulated drugs to terminally ill patients. (alternet.org)
Leaders in the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives announced that they plan to vote on a far-reaching bill to federally legalize marijuana next month, but the Republican Senate has shown no signs it intends to follow suit. (marijuanamoment.net)

Sen. Hatch says he is steadfast in his "dedication to consider and introduce any appropriate federal legislation which might limit the effects of crime in our communities. (hrw.org)

Once a pro forma administrative task, raising the debt ceiling became a matter of high-stakes brinkmanship during the Obama administration, as Republicans repeatedly leveraged the threat of default to push for spending cuts and regulatory rollbacks. (trikarpurnews.com)
The nation's economy remains fragile, U.S. troops continue to fight a losing war in Afghanistan, North Korea has recently threatened a nuclear attack, and in March 2013 Congress and President Obama failed to reach a compromise to prevent the "sequester," which mandates deep spending cuts on the federal level. (prisonlegalnews.org)
The results of the last presidential election, in which over 70% of Hispanics cast their ballots for Obama, have led many panic-stricken Republican politicians to seek ways to avoid electoral irrelevancy at the hands of an increasing number of Hispanic voters. (prisonlegalnews.org)

Toyota gave political donations to not just Republican candidates, but ones who supported the "insurrection. (monoblogue.us)

The bill has support from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi , a spokesperson for the top House Democrat told BuzzFeed News this week, which bodes well for passage if it reaches a vote from the full chamber. (buzzfeednews.com)
The legislation has been approved by the House transportation committee, which Taylor chairs. (inquirer.com)
The challenge, he said, will be convincing House leadership to list the bill for a vote. (inquirer.com)
The bill now heads to the House. (stopthedrugwar.org)
The House Medical, Military, Public and Municipal Affairs Committee passed the South Carolina Compassionate Care Act ( Senate Bill 150 ) Thursday after making minor changes. (stopthedrugwar.org)
The bill now heads for a House floor vote. (stopthedrugwar.org)
The legislation went through a lot of changes compared to when it was first introduced last year, when a version of it passed the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. (vox.com)
While funding treatments for mental illness is expensive, "it's more expensive to ignore it," says Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Texas, who co-sponsored mental health legislation in the House that folded into the 21st Century Cures Act. (wunc.org)
House GOP whip Tom Emmer, the No. 3 House Republican, as well as Rep. Tony Gonzales, a Texas Republican whose congressional district runs along the border with Mexico, voiced support for Greene's resolution. (wate.com)
Next week, the House may take up a bill ( H.R.1549 , the Helping Sick Americans Now Act), which has been purported to "fix" a part of ObamaCare, and some conservatives are crying foul. (freedomworks.org)
FreedomWorks supports House consideration of the bill. (freedomworks.org)
REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY, (R-CA) HOUSE SPEAKER: Once people read the bill, we're pretty excited. (cnn.com)
The White House and Republicans announced the tentative deal late today in a frantic effort to avoid a disastrous default. (cnn.com)
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: The White House and House Republicans have reached an agreement in principle on the debt ceiling. (cnn.com)
This legislation has passed in the House of Representatives on a bipartisan basis several times but has never passed in the U.S. Senate. (cannabislaw.report)
On Thursday, the House is expected to pass this horrible bill, and the Senate is expected to take up the matter on Friday. (theeconomiccollapseblog.com)
The House Rules Committee approved a rule setting the bill up for a floor vote Thursday, after which the Senate will have until the end of the day Friday to avoid a partial government shutdown. (theeconomiccollapseblog.com)
In case you are wondering, I would definitely vote "no" on the bill that is currently going through the House of Representatives. (theeconomiccollapseblog.com)
Both the Senate and House bills are far better than what we have right now, and either one would go a long way to ensuring that the electoral-count law cannot be used as a tool for subverting the election in 2024 or beyond," the Times editorial board wrote last month. (trikarpurnews.com)

Top state prosecutors are urging Congress to pass legislation allowing state prisons to jam the signals of cellphones smuggled to inmates behind bars. (wnem.com)

congress.gov. 30 January 2020. (wikipedia.org)

The event was designed to boost support for pending legislation to allow the city to install speed cameras on Roosevelt Boulevard. (inquirer.com)

What all of us want here is to protect people from the enduring, the never-ending pain of someone being killed by a drug dealer selling poison. (stopthedrugwar.org)
It is absolutely necessary, and I don't know another way to slow people down," said Republican State Rep. John Taylor of Philadelphia, one of the bill's sponsors. (inquirer.com)
The governor also recently vetoed a GOP-led bill that would have significantly ramped up criminal penalties for people who use butane or similar fuels to extract marijuana. (marijuanamoment.net)
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who worked with Cassidy on the bill, says he hopes to alleviate the suffering of people with serious mental illness. (npr.org)
The bill generally requires states to use at least 10 percent of their mental health block grants on early intervention for psychosis, using a model called coordinated specialty care, which provides a team of specialists to provide psychotherapy, medication, education and support for patients' families, as well as services to help young people stay in school or their jobs. (npr.org)
The bill also sets up a $5 million grant program to provide assertive community treatment , one of the most successful strategies for helping people with serious mental illnesses such as schizophrenia. (npr.org)
The bill also expands a grant program for assisted outpatient treatment, which provides court-ordered care for people with serious mental illness who might otherwise not seek help. (npr.org)
The War on Drugs has been a war on people-particularly people of color. (cannabislaw.report)

In that environment, he said, getting legislators to focus on a bill that will result in more speeding violations for their constituents is a tough sell. (inquirer.com)

However, it excludes "foreign cartel members" and offenses related to driving under the influence from expungement eligibility. (cei.org)
If the term legitimate medical purpose has any meaning,' Scalia wrote, 'it surely excludes the prescription of drugs to produce death. (alternet.org)

The Equal Act would appear to be a slam dunk even in a badly divided Congress. (cochs.org)

The statement also notes Trump's praise for Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's brutal campaign of extrajudicial drug war killings, which Duterte administration figures suggest has claimed 20,000 lives to date. (enewspf.com)

Republican nominee for Nevada's fourth congressional district, who's doing very well, Sam Peters. (rev.com)
Republican nominee for Nevada's first congressional district, Mark Robertson. (rev.com)

But, while the SRA doesn't explicitly protect other groups and the MORE Act doesn't protect veterans, it is likely that both bills assume these protections are included in the more general provisions aimed at records expungement and non-discrimination. (cei.org)

A bill to approve speed cameras, necessary for street safety in Philadelphia according to city officials, could be a tough sell in the state legislature. (inquirer.com)
There are, for example, five times more White drug users than Black," Human Rights Watch officials wrote in a recent report. (jacksonvillefreepress.com)
NEWTON: So in the day ahead, U.S. officials are expected to unveil new legislation on the national debt limit hours after agreeing to extend it. (cnn.com)

Anatomy3

Organisms11

Diseases4

Chemicals and Drugs2

Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment12

Psychiatry and Psychology17

Phenomena and Processes1

Disciplines and Occupations14

Anthropology, Education, Sociology and Social Phenomena59

Technology, Industry, Agriculture12

Humanities7

Information Science10

Named Groups6

Health Care92

Publication Characteristics2

Geographicals11

Democrats21

Death penalty for drug offenses2

Nonviolent drug2

Cannabis34

Trump13

Crack and powder cocaine3

Cocaine4

Senators7

Prison16

Incarceration3

Articles of impeachm2

Advocates4

Convictions3

Biden6

Possession3

Members of Congr4

Reform13

Mayorkas6

Crimes3

Bipartisan bill1

Senate Judiciary5

State legislatures1

20212

Enforcement10

Legalization5

Lawmakers4

Executions2

Administration's1

19962

Accuses1

Enough Republican votes2

Offenders3

Disparity2

Enact2

Overhaul2

20231

Years7

Majority5

President Biden's2

Opposition1

Federally2

Introduce1

Obama3

Insurrection1

House19

Pass legislation1

20201

Support for pending leg1

People8

Legislators1

Excludes2

Equal Act1

Trump's1

Congressional district2

Expungement1

Officials3