Cannabis, Crime, and Clemency

The President’s recent general pardon, pursuant to the Constitution, of simple marijuana possession offenses in violation of federal law (and the D.C. Code), represents a historic event in criminal justice reform and an important step toward correcting the lingering injustices of a national drug ban. Additional work lies ahead, including the release from federal prison of those incarcerated for non-violent marijuana-related offenses, the legislatively authorized expungement of federal convictions for non-violent marijuana-related offenses, and the ultimate end of federal marijuana prohibition by act of Congress.

As of October 2022, three-quarters of the states—as well as the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands—have abandoned the federal government’s blanket criminal ban in favor of safe, regulated legal access to marijuana for medical and/or recreational (adult use) purposes. The transformations in state law, propelled and bolstered by a sea change in public opinion, all point away from incarcerating people for non-violent marijuana offenses. The federal government itself has recognized and accepted as much in recent years, through Congress’s passage of annual spending riders (now known as the “Joyce-Blumenauer amendment”) barring interference with state medical marijuana laws, and through the Justice Department’s exercise of prosecutorial discretion in jurisdictions that have legalized marijuana (e.g., guidance under the so-called “Cole Memo”).

On July 20, 2022, the Academy for Justice at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law – in conjunction with the Justice Roundtable, the National Cannabis Roundtable, the Weldon Project, and Mission Green – hosted an invite-only symposium, held at the Rayburn House Office Building in the U.S. Capitol Complex, to discuss clemency policy and criminal justice reform within the current landscape of U.S. marijuana law. The daylong event featured U.S. Pardon Attorney Elizabeth Oyer, former Governor and H.H.S. Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, former Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole (author of the Cole Memo), leading criminal justice experts, and a bipartisan group of Congressional champions for reform.

Symposium sessions focused on the federal law, policy, and politics of marijuana and criminal justice reform, with the morning sessions discussing models for clemency and expungement and the afternoon sessions considering bipartisan legislative proposals for marijuana-related justice reform.

Below we have compiled resources that inspired the symposium, were presented for discussion at the event, or stemmed from related endeavors, including:

• a letter to the President signed by dozens of leaders asking him to issue a general pardon for non-violent federal marijuana offenses; 
• a proposal for granting clemency to people serving federal prison sentences for nonviolent marijuana offenses; 
• a draft bill for the expungement of federal marijuana misdemeanors and other low-level offenses; and
• a memorandum in support of granting clemency to a young African-American man currently serving a 60-year federal sentence for non-violent marijuana distribution.

Also provided below are links to the President’s pardon and a number of pending bills, as Congress looks to end federal marijuana prohibition and transform a criminalized black market into a lawful regulated market.

At the twilight of marijuana prohibition, the Academy for Justice supports further efforts to move away from harmful drug warfare and toward sensible drug regulation.

The Academy for Justice, a program within the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University, is a diverse team of reform-minded scholars and experts from a number of different institutions who believe that knowledge is the most important tool we have for addressing the array of problems confronting the American criminal justice system. Our scholars come from different backgrounds, and each bring different perspectives, experiences, and methodologies to bear on our criminal justice reform work. As a scholarly collective, our approach to criminal justice reform is interdisciplinary, pragmatic, and non-partisan. Our shared mission is to bridge the gap between academia and on-the-ground criminal justice reform by making scholarly research and ideas accessible to policymakers, stakeholders, journalists, and the public. For more information visit http://academyforjustice.org/.

The National Cannabis Roundtable is an alliance of cannabis companies, as well as ancillary services and solutions providers, who seek cannabis reform which nurtures the nascent domestic industry, protects consumers and advances social equity. They are committed to sensible regulation, criminal justice reform, social equity and community reinvestment. For more information visit https://nationalcannabisroundtable.org.

THE WELDON PROJECT is dedicated to funding social change and financial aid for those who are still serving prison time for cannabis-related offenses. Through extensive partnerships throughout the legal Cannabis industry, THE WELDON PROJECT launched the MISSION [GREEN] initiative to raise the bar for awareness, social justice, and social equity by providing unique ways for cannabis businesses and consumers to participate in a nationwide campaign aimed to provide relief to those who have been negatively impacted by prohibition. For more information, visit https://www.theweldonproject.org/.

The Justice Roundtable is a broad-based coalition of more than 100 organizations working to reform federal criminal justice laws and policies. Founded in 2002, the Roundtable’s mission is to bring value to the Justice Movement by coordinating the federal legislative and advocacy efforts of the Washington criminal justice advocacy community. For more information, visit https://justiceroundtable.org.