Since taking office in May of 2018, Parson has acted on just one of these cases. But Parson does not deserve all the blame; previous governors such as Eric Greitens and Jay Nixon also deserve blame for creating this mountain of inaction. Parson though currently controls the Missouri government, so the duty falls to him to remedy the problem.

Historically speaking, Missouri acts of clemency usually revolve around highly publicized cases, as in the instance of Darrell Mease, whose sentence was commuted in 1999 after the visit of Pope John Paul II. But clemency should not strictly pertain to these extraordinary cases.

Given the legalization of marijuana for medicinal use, the governor should immediately grant a full pardon to anyone in a Missouri prison who has been convicted of a marijuana-related offense. Not only should this be an easy task for the governor to accomplish since it is the logical thing to do, but it will also initiate dismantling the rest of the backlog. It would get the ball rolling so to speak.

While Missouri is currently on track to full legalization of marijuana, it still has some of the toughest marijuana laws in the nation on the books. While possession of under 10 grams of marijuana is decriminalized for a first-time offense, selling and trafficking cannabis is still heavily cracked down on.

Attempting to sell less than 5 grams of marijuana is categorized as a Class C felony in Missouri and punishable with up to seven years in prison and $5,000 fine. While obviously logically contradictory, the current laws have contributed to enormous amounts of people wasting away in prison in Missouri for marijuana-related offenses. 

But why should Parson grant clemency to these people in addition to all those in Missouri prisons who used marijuana for medicinal uses? The governor should do so because marijuana legalization is coming quickly to Missouri. Marijuana is already decriminalized in the state, meaning that any adult possessing 10 grams or less of cannabis is only fined anywhere from $250-$1000 and charged with a misdemeanor for a first-time offense.

Ballot initiatives to recreationally legalize marijuana are collecting signatures to be on the ballot in 2020, which could make cannabis fully legal in the state by 2021. Even if this initiative does not succeed in passing, it is only a matter of time before marijuana is recreationally legalized in Missouri. The legal marijuana train is coming, and Parson better hop on before it is too late.

Granting clemency to those with marijuana-related convictions in Missouri would also generate positive press for the Parson administration. Acting on only one of the 3,500 petitions for clemency is a sin against his office. It not only signifies laziness but an utter contempt for the prison population of Missouri.

Since 1981, Missouri governors have acted on about 6,000 petitions for clemency. This means that on average that Missouri governors have responded to 158 petitions for clemency per year. Parson is totally behind the 8-ball in rejecting clemency in his only foray into the topic. Pardoning those in prison for marijuana offenses would signify that Parson is committed to lowering the backlog.

By granting clemency to these people, the governor would also contribute to lowering the prison budget in Missouri. For the 2016 fiscal year, the Missouri Department of Corrections spent $710 million dollars to maintain the Missouri prison system.  Granting clemency to inmates with marijuana convictions would reduce this budget substantially, freeing up money that Parson should then return to the taxpayers. 

This avenue would be a nice start for Parson to take in approaching the clemency backlog. He has already kicked the ball down the road in refusing to hear any petitions. The governor should learn from his mistakes and lead in 2020.

Missouri residents should prod the governor along by signing the marijuana initiative to get it on the ballot in 2020. This would signify to Parson that Missouri is ready for a change, spurring him to grant clemency to all those in prison on marijuana-related offenses.

From this, Parson should begin to attack the rest of the backlog. Not only would this address the serious neglect of clemency petitions, but it would also thrust Missouri into the progressive world of marijuana legalization.

The post Marijuana Legalization and The Crisis of Clemency in Missouri appeared first on The Libertarian Republic.

That was the largest single-day mass commutation of prisoners in state history, and the Oklahoma governor calls it the largest in the nation. But this story doesn’t end with the state. It’s just the beginning.

Oklahoma has one of the largest incarceration rates in the country and in one day they significantly reduced that. The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board unanimously approved that 527 state inmates be commuted on Friday, November 1. Governor Kevin Stitt quickly approved it, and 462 of those prisoners walked free on Monday. The other 65 are being held on detainer.

The people of Oklahoma made it clear that they were moving forward with criminal justice reform for nonviolent offenders. In 2016, Oklahomans voted to lower penalties for numerous drug and property crimes by categorizing them as misdemeanors instead of felonies; thus, reducing sentencing and the unrelenting black mark that a felony offense carries.

In the spring of 2019, the legislators made it possible for the governor to retroactively commute nonviolent offenders’ sentences. In other words, the 2016 reforms of how crimes are punished and categorized apply to those currently serving unduly harsh time in prison. This made it possible for the hundreds of prisoners to be released on Monday.

“We are making great progress this Legislative session on criminal justice reform, from investing in drug courts and diversion programs to stabilizing District Attorneys’ funding sources by ending their dependency on fines, fees and court costs. My administration remains committed to changing our state’s number one incarceration ranking,” –Governor Stitt, May 2019

Many of the prisoners released were women. The state of Oklahoma incarcerates women at the highest rate in the country. Governor Stitt greeted about 70 newly freed female prisoners as they left the Eddie Warrior Correctional Facility on Monday.

The fight for reform is partially governmental and strictly legal, but the work to help former prisoners reenter society is largely handled by private hands. Chrystalynn Sanchez is a criminal justice reform advocate that works for Reaching Our City (ROC). ROC operates one of the largest food pantries in the Oklahoma City area, and the Career Navigator program that helps applicants find training/certification for employment opportunity.

In the near future, ROC plans on opening a legal aid clinic to assist those charged with low-level crimes. Sanchez hopes that legal assistance will prevent them from falling into the revolving-door of the criminal justice system.

Through ROC, Sanchez works with Celebrate Recovery a ministry that assists those struggling to overcome hurt, pain, or addiction. The organization is providing the former inmates with hygiene products and clothing that will aid them in finding employment and reentering society.

The ministry facilitated transportation of the newly freed inmates as they were released on Monday. Sanchez tells me that the solutions in this situation is “less of a single ministry and more of an effort from all the programs that work with women”.

The state took a positive step forward in criminal justice reform, but work continues to ensure that newly freed prisoners have opportunities in society and don’t end up back in prison.

Reaching Our City will have a benefit art auction to raise money for their job training program on November 14. To donate and/or learn more about them go to their website here.

The post Criminal Justice Reform: Oklahoma Releases Over 400 Prisoners, But It Doesn’t End There appeared first on The Libertarian Republic.

Gun control is fashionable at the moment. But in reality, it is just another government program that will grow bureaucracy and diminish individual liberty. The same knee-jerk mob reaction that pleads for the government to “f*cking do something” about gun control is the same mentality that started the Drug War.

Musgraves’ passionate plea was in response to two mass shootings in the same week in America. She was pleading for something like governmental regulation to solve the heinous tragedy of mass shootings. It’s not the first time that America has faced scary situations and reacted by asking the government to solve it.

Through the 1970s to the 1990s, America struggled with drug abuse never seen before. The public clamored, “somebody f*cking do something”. What was the policy response? Massive law enforcement campaigns that spent tons of money and incarcerated countless people for answering consumer demands.

The hysteria of the time wasn’t completely unfounded. Americans were dying of overdoses all over the country. However, as most panic-induced government solutions do, the fix was too expansive and had some nasty side-effects. It created a system that harassed, arrested and sentenced people to long prison terms for marijuana charges. Even though, the plant has never caused an overdose death by itself.

Republicans played a role in perpetuating the war on drugs boondoggle, but it was far from ONLY a Republican mistake. Many Democrats played their part in it too (looking at you, Joe Biden). Some of them have owned up to their past and helped in bipartisan criminal justice reform.

Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill) recognized that he played a role in creating the disparity between sentencing for crack cocaine versus powder during the 1990s. The disparity was created in a hysterical rush and inadvertently caused a disproportionate number of non-white offenders receiving harsh sentences for drug offenses.

For example, in 1994 at the age of 25, Alton Mills was sentenced to life without parole for a low-level nonviolent drug offense. Senator Durbin started arguing on Mills’ behalf and in December of 2015, he was released from prison after serving 22 years.

There are numerous similar cases where unduly harsh sentences were given to offenders, and that is why there is bipartisan dislike of the Drug War. That should remind us how panicked government action can be dangerous, and result in toxic solutions that have long-lasting repercussions.

Drug overdoses are terrible… just like gun violence. Blindly begging the government to “f*cking do something” isn’t the answer, whether it’s drugs or guns.

The post History Rhymes: From The War on Drugs to The War on Guns appeared first on The Libertarian Republic.