rich 1.0 Action Network https://actionnetwork.org <link href='https://actionnetwork.org/css/style-embed-v3.css' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css' /><script src='https://actionnetwork.org/widgets/v6/petition/federal-cannabis-clemency?format=js&source=widget'></script><div id='can-petition-area-federal-cannabis-clemency' style='width: 100%'><!-- this div is the target for our HTML insertion --></div> The Last Prisoner Project https://actionnetwork.org/groups/last-prisoner-project https://can2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/petitions/photos/000/254/399/normal/TTH_%E2%80%94_Twitter.png The Last Prisoner Project, in partnership with a coalition of other activists, celebrities, and public figures, is calling on President Biden to continue to act on broad-based criminal justice and drug policy reform by granting clemency to then tens of thousands of individuals currently incarcerated due to — or otherwise unduly burdened by — federal cannabis-related convictions. By providing desperately-needed relief to some of the thousands of people still suffering the legal ramifications of our nation's unjust and needless policy of federal marijuana prohibition, President Biden would be heeding the will of the American people — the vast majority of whom favor retroactive sentencing relief for so-called "cannabis offenders". In doing so, President Biden would make great strides in his stated desire to “root out systemic racism from our laws, our policies, our institutions, and our hearts”. After evaluating various modalities of the executive clemency authority, as well as the classwide clemency efforts of President Biden's predecessors, we're recommending that the President implement this initiative using a 'board model'. This approach would see President Biden issue an Executive Order impaneling a Presidential Cannabis Clemency Board. The board — which should be staffed with individuals with lived and/or professional expertise — would operate independently from the Department of Justice. It would be tasked exclusively with helping administer pardons and commutations to individuals with federal cannabis-related convictions, as well as providing data, insights, and learnings necessary for a more expansive use of this approach (as well as a broader reimagining of the clemency process). As federal authorities currently have little authority to expunge, seal, and/or set aside federal cannabis-related convictions, clemency grants represent the only way to ensure relief for individuals currently or formerly incarcerated for those offenses. But while this use of the executive clemency power will alleviate some of the legal disabilities imposed on his particular population, it will not bring about all of the necessary relief for the countless others currently incarcerated, or otherwise severely burdened by, marijuana convictions. As such, classwide federal cannabis clemency should not be considered a substitute for clemency on the state level. Nor should it preclude the advancement of more robust and comprehensive legislative activity. At the same time President Biden moves to grant "cannabis clemency", Congress, as well as state and local authorities, must also proactively seek to alleviate the burden of cannabis convictions and their collateral consequences through legislative action. https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/federal-cannabis-clemency