In this edition of Most Affected, a bust took them all down, but these three men are still fighting to clear their names. This Most Affected installment looks at sentences of those incarcerated for cannabis, and this case deserves your special attention. Life was difficult for Daniel Longoria and Jose “Joe” Cavazos growing up in the small border town of Brownfield,…
By Sadie Gurman Updated Apr. 26, 2022 12:17 pm E WASHINGTON—President Biden on Tuesday granted his first pardons and commutations to 78 people convicted mostly of nonviolent drug offenses, part of a broader White House effort to address inequities in the criminal-justice system. Mr. Biden is issuing pardons to three people and reducing…
Huge thanks to Steven Nelson who quoted many of our pot prisoners in the following article, including, Pedro Moreno, Luke Scarmazzo, Donald Fugitt, Lance Gloor, and Michael Pelletier WASHINGTON — On the eve of the 4/20 cannabis holiday, federal inmates again are wondering if and when President Biden will make good…
Clemency Recipient List APRIL 26, 2022•STATEMENTS AND RELEASES Today, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. is granting clemency to 78 individuals, consisting of three pardons and 75 commutations. President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. is pardoning the following three individuals: Abraham W. Bolden, Sr. – Chicago, Illinois Abraham Bolden is an 86-year-old former U.S. Secret Service agent…
Sept. 12, 2021, 6:37 AM PDT / Updated Sept. 13, 2021, 9:02 AM PDT By Patrice Gaines Brian Foster was released from prison nearly a year ago under the CARES Act, a government policy that prioritized the use of home confinement as an appropriate way to release some incarcerated people as Covid-19 roared through facilities. When Foster, 54,…
By SAM STEIN 09/13/2021 01:17 PM EDT The Biden administration has begun asking former inmates confined at home because of the pandemic to formally submit commutation applications, criminal justice reform advocates and one inmate herself tell POLITICO. Those who have been asked for the applications fall into a specific category: drug offenders…
Most Affected: Ismael Lira’s Family Torn Apart as a Cannabis Lifer This edition of Most Affected focuses on Ismael Lira, whose family was torn apart by the war on drugs. Here is his tragic story. Ismael Lira grew up in the border town of Del Rio, Texas. He’d live there until getting caught up in…
Link below to an interview between Rev Al Sharpton and Amy Ralston Povah discussing the current state of affairs regarding the CARES Act and why the criminal justice reform community is up in arms about CARES Act prisoners left in limbo about the looming Barr Memo that states all prisoners on home confinement must return…
DIANA MARQUEZ HAS spent the last 14 months going on long walks, hitting the treadmill, and cooking with her daughter. She’s gotten to know her grandson, a fourth grader, helping him with his math homework. She has also lived with a weight hanging over her head — and an ankle bracelet strapped to her leg….
Biden ‘exploring’ clemency for federal drug crimes, Psaki says By Steven Nelson August 11, 2021 WASHINGTON — President Biden is “exploring” the idea of granting clemency to people who are serving federal prison sentences for drug crimes, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday. It would be a dramatic pivot for Biden, who…