President Trump will be leaving office soon but before he goes, there is something great he could do for marijuana prisoners.
That is at least according to a group of celebrities, civil rights advocates and Republican officials who wrote Trump a letter last week.
The group has urged President Trump to pardon or commute the sentences of people in federal prison who have nonviolent federal marijuana offenses.
The signatories of the letter “strongly believe that justice necessitates the exercise of executive clemency in these cases.”
The letter has a specific list of 24 people who are currently behind bars for cannabis offenses, including several who are serving life sentences.
“You have expressed support for the States’ right to implement their own cannabis laws, especially for medicinal purposes,” the signatories wrote. “And while there are a number of proposals being introduced in Congress to finally put an end to cannabis prohibition, they tend to lack any real avenue of relief for those who are serving time for selling cannabis.”
“Given the timidity of this proposed legislation, the gridlock in Congress, and the imperative of freedom, clemency is the right tool to fix this problem,” it continues.
“You and you alone have the power to call out a grand hypocrisy of prior administrations. While cannabis became a thriving, legal market and enriched many, your predecessors ignored the people who were—and are—serving long federal terms for doing the same thing.”
Among the more than 50 signatories of the new letter is Alice Johnson, whose story was featured in Trump campaign ads after her drug sentence was commuted by the president.
Included in the list of signatories are also former NBA star Kevin Garnett and Republican state lawmakers from Kansas, Maine and Missouri who also signed on.
As did a former U.S. attorney, actor Danny Trejo, the New Haven, Missouri police chief and former New Mexico governor and presidential candidate Gary Johnson are also on the list. They were joined by representatives of groups like #cut50, Marijuana Policy Project and Law Enforcement Action Partnership.
During his administration Trump had granted 27 pardons and 11 commutations.
