It wafts down the pavement, an unmistakable odor more Haight-Ashbury than New York - the tang of marijuana smoke in the city's streets. If the smell (and the lightheadedness a passer-by may feel) is anything to judge by, lighting up and strolling around seems increasingly common in pockets of Brooklyn, on side streets in Manhattan and in other public spaces. Street smokers say they are emboldened by laws that have legalized the recreational use of marijuana in other parts of the country and by the relatively low-key comments by New York's leaders, including the police commissioner, about the drug. [continues 1032 words]
A Nonviolent Drug Offender Granted Clemency After 2 Decades Behind Bars Adjusts to Life on the Outside DALLAS - The recently released federal prisoner sat down at his sister's dining room table. He pulled out a legal pad and began the letter he had been turning over in his mind for several months: "Dear Mr. President, I am writing you today with the utmost gratitude to personally thank you for granting my petition for clemency on March 31, 2015. Your actions have given me a second chance to start living life normally again and mere words can't express how truly grateful I am for your making this moment possible. The Bible says, 'To whom much is given, much is required,' and I vow to make the most of this unique opportunity that I've been given." [continues 2021 words]
WASHINGTON (AP) - A push to overhaul criminal sentencing is prompting the early release of thousands of federal drug prisoners, including some whom prosecutors once described as threats to society, according to an Associated Press review of court records. About 6,000 inmates are due to be freed from custody in the coming month, the result of changes made last year to guidelines that provide judges with recommended sentences for specific crimes. Federal officials say roughly 40,000 inmates could be eligible for reduced sentences in coming years. [continues 923 words]
WASHINGTON - The federal Bureau of Prisons plans to release 6,000 prisoners at the end of October, implementing a decision last year to slash the number of incarcerated drug offenders by nearly half. Officials said the nationwide releases over four days starting Oct. 30 will be the largest in U.S. history. Last year, in line with a concerted effort by the Obama administration to reduce the number of drug offenders in U.S. prisons, the U.S. Sentencing Commission voted to cut drug sentences by an average of two years, potentially affecting as many as 46,000 out of 100,000 cases. [continues 397 words]
In the Largest Mass Liberation Yet, the Inmates Are to Be Let Out Starting Oct. 30. WASHINGTON - The federal Bureau of Prisons plans to release 6,000 prisoners at the end of October, implementing a decision last year to slash the number of incarcerated drug offenders by nearly half. Officials said the nationwide releases over four days starting Oct. 30 would be the largest in U.S. history. Last year, in line with a concerted effort by the Obama administration to reduce the number of drug offenders in U.S. prisons, the U.S. Sentencing Commission voted to cut drug sentences by an average of two years, potentially affecting as many as 46,000 out of 100,000 cases. [continues 396 words]
The Inmate Release Is Part of a Big Change in Federal Drug Policy. washington) The Justice Department is set to release about 6,000 inmates early from prison - the largest ever release of federal prisoners-to reduce crowding and provide relief to drug offenders who received harsh sentences in the past three decades. The inmates from federal prisons nationwide will be set free by the department's Bureau of Prisons between Oct. 30 andNov. 2. Most of them will go to halfway houses and home confinement before being put on supervised release. [continues 930 words]
Nonviolent Drug Crimes Mass Release May Be One of Largest in U.S. History WASHINGTON - The Justice Department is preparing to release roughly 6,000 inmates from federal prison as part of an effort to ease overcrowding and roll back the harsh penalties given to nonviolent drug dealers in the 1980s and 1990s, according to federal law-enforcement officials. The release, scheduled to occur from Oct. 30 to Nov. 2, will be one of the largest one-time discharges of inmates from federal prisons in American history, said the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they did not want to be identified discussing matters that had not been publicly announced by the Justice Department. [continues 611 words]
(AP) - Thousands of federal inmates serving sentences for drug crimes are set for early release next month under a cost-cutting measure intended to reduce the nation's prison population. The more than 5,500 inmates set to go free in November are among the first of what could eventually be tens of thousands eligible for release. The U.S. Sentencing Commission voted last year to retroactively apply substantially lower recommended sentences for those convicted of drug-related felonies. The commission, an independent panel that sets federal sentencing policy, estimated the prison terms would be cut by an average of 25 months. [continues 200 words]
Biggest One-Time Release of U.S. Inmates The Justice Department is set to release about 6,000 inmates early from prison - the largest one-time release of federal prisoners - in an effort to reduce overcrowding and provide relief to drug offenders who received harsh sentences over the past three decades, according to U.S. officials. The inmates from federal prisons nationwide will be set free by the department's Bureau of Prisons between Oct. 30 and Nov. 2. About two-thirds of them will go to halfway houses and home confinement before being put on supervised release. About one-third are foreign citizens who will be quickly deported, officials said. [continues 1037 words]
WASHINGTON - The Justice Department is set to release about 6,000 inmates early from prison - the largest one-time release of federal prisoners - in an effort to reduce overcrowding and provide relief to drug offenders who received harsh sentences over the past three decades. The inmates from federal prisons nationwide will be set free by the department's Bureau of Prisons between Oct. 30 and Nov. 2. Most of them will go to halfway houses and home confinement before being put on supervised release. [continues 207 words]
Kyle Catlin and His Attorney Say He Did Nothing Wrong, and Are Counting on Arizona's Medical Marijuana Law's Ambiguity to Prevent Him From Life in Prison The thought of possibly spending close to 100 years in prison terrifies Kyle Catlin. But he's mostly concerned about his mom. She's not in the best of health. If something were to happen to her, "I may not even be allowed to leave prison to go to my mom's funeral, and that's super fucked up," he says. "I'm probably not gonna see her, except for behind glass for the rest of my life. It hurts so much to think about that I try not to think about it and move on with my day." [continues 2254 words]
Kin, Lawmakers Argued Sentence Too Stiff As Attitudes Have Changed Jefferson City, Mo. (AP) - A man sentenced to life without parole on a marijuana-related charge was freed Tuesday from a Missouri prison after being behind bars for two decades - a period in which the nation's attitudes toward pot steadily softened. "I spent a third of my life in prison," said Jeff Mizanskey, 62, who was greeted by his infant great-granddaughter. "It's a shame." His release followed years of lobbying by relatives, lawmakers and others who argued that the sentence was too stiff and that marijuana should not be forbidden. [continues 482 words]
JEFFERSON CITY - After 21 years behind bars for marijuana-related offenses, Jeff Mizanskey is now a free man. Mizanskey, 62, of Sedalia, was released from the Jefferson City Correctional Center early Tuesday morning with a crowd of family, friends and members of the media ready to greet him. His supporters wore black shirts with the Show-Me Cannabis logo and white lettering that said #WeFreedJeffMizanskey 09-01-2015. Mizanskey wore a similar shirt that said "I'm Jeff and I'm Free." [continues 835 words]
TAMPA - On Nov. 1, 120 federal drug offenders sentenced in Tampa will be released from prison as part of a rollback of federal drug penalties. Among the prisoners tasting freedom will be Lucas Lopez, 86, and his son, Benito, 47, Miami commercial fishermen who have served 22 years of their 30-year sentences after being convicted of conspiracy to distribute more than 5 kilos of cocaine in Tampa. For both men, it was their first conviction. Neither had any disciplinary issues in 22 years behind bars, according to their lawyer, Conrad Kahn of the Federal Public Defender's office. [continues 1547 words]
A Bipartisan Push for Sentencing Reform Unites President Obama and the Koch Brothers, but Many Are Still Waiting Behind Bars The gleaming black granite tower where conservative billionaire Charles Koch oversees an empire of multinational corporations is 1,500 miles and worlds away from the California prison cell of Weldon Angelos. But Angelos sits at the intersection of an unusual alliance between the industrialist and President Obama - longtime political nemeses. Their cooperation illustrates the depth of a bipartisan effort to reduce the nation's [continues 2998 words]
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Rudolph Norris walked out of Morgantown federal prison two weeks ago carrying a duffel bag like no other. First, he had spent six months hand-stitching it himself from dozens of mottled leather scraps, symbolizing the shards of his life he longed to piece back together. Then he unzipped it and pulled out his invitation to try. "Dear Rudolph," the letter began, "I wanted to personally inform you that I have granted your application for commutation." It was signed "Barack Obama." [continues 2590 words]
The first time Brian Rogers took a bong hit at a party with his Havre de Grace High School friends, he said marijuana had no effect on him. Now Rogers co-owns a multimillion-dollar marijuana company in Colorado at the center of the CNNdocu-series "High Profits," and he's no longer ambivalent. "It's changed my life," the 34-year-old Harford County native said. While recreational marijuana is illegal in 46 states - including Maryland - Colorado has been at the forefront of the legalization movement. And Rogers has been at the forefront of capitalizing on it. [continues 1222 words]
Possibility of Economic Boost From Production Facilities Is Enticing in Conservative Rural Areas of MD. Washington County is a proudly conservative place. Voters here haven't backed a Democrat for president since 1964, and same-sex marriage lost by a landslide in a referendum three years ago. But when Chicago-based Green Thumb Industries pitched a proposal to put a medical-marijuana production plant here, the county's five county commissioners - Republicans all - passed a resolution unanimously supporting the plan. Residents of Hagerstown, the county seat, seem to be taking the news in stride. The consensus: yes to marijuana for relieving pain, no to recreational use. [continues 1258 words]
Hagerstown Residents Say Yes to Medical Marijuana HAGERSTOWN - Washington County is a proudly conservative place. Voters haven't backed a Democrat for president since 1964, and same-sex marriage lost by a landslide in a referendum three years ago. But when Chicago-based Green Thumb Industries pitched a proposal to put a medical marijuana production plant here, the county's five county commissioners - Republicans all - passed a resolution unanimously supporting the plan. Residents in Hagerstown, the county seat, seem to be taking the news in stride. The consensus: yes to marijuana for relieving pain, no to recreational use. [continues 1474 words]
Tony Papa is living proof that a drug offender slapped with a harsh sentence for a nonviolent crime can turn his life around if given a second chance. Since he was sprung by then-Gov. George Pataki in 1996 after serving 12 years of a mandatory 15-years-to-life sentence under New York's Rockefeller drug laws, he has had a successful career as a painter, author and advocate for a truce in the country's War on Drugs. "I think it's great. It's putting a spotlight on the issue of mass incarceration, that people were put in prison at alarming rates for nonviolent drug crimes," Papa told The Post Thursday of President Obama's push for sentencing reform. [continues 250 words]
