I just want Obama to do ONE more thing before he leaves office

2015-03-17T15:48:24+00:00

Well, many more perhaps, but the ONE thing in particular I want him to do is: Re-classify marijuana from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule II (or preferably Schedule III - best of all, don't list it at all!!) Selfish? Not at all. We have a golden opportunity here. 4 states have legalized it for recreational use. Almost a quarter of the states in the union now have medical marijuana. You can just feel the entrepreneurial spirit bursting at the seams over weed. This one more thing would swing the gates wide open and remove a lot of the fear that many people still have. We could tolerate a lot more uncertainty and ugliness if we could just grow and smoke some weed in peace.

SheilaT

(23,156 posts)

1. Isn't that something the FDA does?

Reply to RussBLib (Original post)

Tue Mar 17, 2015, 11:50 AM

Mar 2015

Not the President?

RussBLib

(9,019 posts)

3. there is some disagreement on this

Reply to SheilaT (Reply #1)

Tue Mar 17, 2015, 01:40 PM

Mar 2015

...I've read that he DOES have the authority and I've read that he DOES NOT have the authority. (I hate it when that happens.)

One thing we know for certain: Congress wouldn't do it, even if they could, as long as Obama is President.

Even if Obama did not have the authority, his influence could get it across the finish line.

We have had so many politicians now admit to smoking weed during their "youth" it's long past time to lighten up.

WDIM

(1,662 posts)

2. 23 states have medical marijuana

Reply to RussBLib (Original post)

Tue Mar 17, 2015, 12:05 PM

Mar 2015

That is 46 senators that should be representing their constiuents and working to change the law.

RussBLib

(9,019 posts)

4. good point

Reply to WDIM (Reply #2)

Tue Mar 17, 2015, 01:41 PM

Mar 2015

It's almost a majority of the Senate right there.

I wonder how many members of the House of Representatives that would include?

mountain grammy

(26,622 posts)

5. I'm hoping he has someone looking

Reply to RussBLib (Original post)

Wed Mar 18, 2015, 10:18 AM

Mar 2015

At the mass incarcerations of American citizens for petty crimes and Simple possession of drugs. The American gulag is a disgrace and a violation of human rights. January 2016 should bring a few hundred if not thousands of pardons.

The president has the power to right a lot of wrongs and he should do it.

freshwest

(53,661 posts)

11. Sorry, my reply to you was on the wrong line:

Reply to mountain grammy (Reply #5)

Sun Mar 22, 2015, 02:07 AM

Mar 2015

Eric Holder seeks to cut mandatory minimum drug sentences

The Justice Department will no longer pursue mandatory minimum sentences for certain low-level, nonviolent drug offenders, Attorney General Eric Holder said Monday, noting the nation is "coldly efficient in jailing criminals," but that it "cannot prosecute or incarcerate" its way to becoming safer.

"Too many Americans go to too many prisons for far too long, and for no truly good law enforcement reason," Holder told the American Bar Association's House of Delegates in San Francisco.

He questioned some assumptions about the criminal justice system's approach to the "war on drugs," saying that excessive incarceration has been an "ineffective and unsustainable" part of it.

Although he said the United States should not abandon being tough on crime, Holder embraced steps to address "shameful" racial disparities in sentencing, the budgetary strains of overpopulated prisons and policies for incarceration that punish and rehabilitate, "not merely to warehouse and forget."

Holder invoked President Barack Obama, saying the two had been talking about the issues and agreed to try to "strike a balance" that clears the way for a "pragmatic" and "commonsense" solutions to enhance public safety and the "public good."

http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/12/politics/holder-mandatory-minimums/

Eric Holder Was Great on Drugs

...In the weeks following his re-election, Obama added: “There are millions of lives out there that are being destroyed or distorted because we haven’t fully thought through our [criminal justice] process.” The real leadership on broader sentencing reform, however, came from Eric Holder.

In August of 2013, the attorney general issued new guidelines to federal prosecutors designed to reduce the number of people charged with harsh mandatory minimum sentences. In November, speaking in Medellin, Colombia, to an inter-American gathering of public security ministers, he condemned the mass incarceration policies in his own country as “both inadvisable and unsustainable.” “It carries,” he said, “both human and moral costs that are too much to bear.”

In January, he successfully lobbied the Senate Judiciary Committee to pass the farthest-reaching reform of mandatory minimums to date. In April, perhaps prompted by harsh criticism of how few clemencies Obama had issued, the administration announced a major clemency initiative that could free hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people locked up for low-level drug offenses. Meanwhile, Holder’s changes in how drug offenses are charged, and his support for sentencing reform in the U.S. Sentencing Commission and Congress, will lead to thousands released early or sentenced to shorter terms.

Even more remarkable than Holder’s bold speeches and reforms on sentencing matters was his shift on marijuana policy last year. This represented a remarkable turnabout from Obama’s first term, when the president mocked the notion of legalization and Holder warned California voters that federal agents would “vigorously enforce” federal law if Californians approved a legalization initiative on the ballot in 2010. The first hint that change might be afoot came two years later, when Holder refrained from issuing similar warnings to voters in Colorado, Washington and Oregon, notwithstanding the entreaties of former drug czars and DEA chiefs. And a second hint became apparent following the Election Day victories in Colorado and Washington, when the newly re-elected Obama administration said it needed time to think about its response...

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/09/eric-holder-was-great-on-drugs-111354.html

Attorney General Eric Holder sees success in fewer drug prosecutions

Washington (CNN) Federal prosecutors are bringing fewer prosecutions for illegal drugs and less often seeking mandatory minimum sentences, changes that Attorney General Eric Holder is hailing a major success of his tenure.

At the same time, the crimes being prosecuted carried higher minimum sentences on average because less-serious cases aren't being pursued by federal prosecutors, according to Attorney General Eric Holder, citing data from the U.S. Sentencing Commission...

Holder views the sentencing changes as a civil rights issue, because he and others argue that tough drug sentencing laws have a disproportionate impact on black and other minority defendants. The tough sentencing laws has also led to high incarceration rates and high prison costs, an issue drawing attention from both liberal and conservative political leaders.

"For years prior to this administration, federal prosecutors were not only encouraged -- but required -- to always seek the most severe prison sentence possible for all drug cases, no matter the relative risk they posed to public safety. I have made a break from that philosophy," Holder said. "While old habits are hard to break, these numbers show that a dramatic shift is underway in the mindset of prosecutors handling nonviolent drug offenses. I believe we have taken steps to institutionalize this fairer, more practical approach such that it will endure for years to come..."

"This newly unveiled data shows we can confront over-incarceration at the same time that we continue to promote public safety," Holder says in prepared remarks. "Already, in fiscal Year 2014, we saw the first reduction in the federal prison population in 32 years. Meanwhile, since President Obama took office, we've presided over a continued decline in the overall crime rate. This marks the first time that any Administration has achieved side-by-side reductions in both crime and incarceration in more than forty years."

http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/17/politics/attorney-general-eric-holder-drug-sentencing-prosecutions/

Does that help?

mountain grammy

(26,622 posts)

12. Yes, thanks. They've also been working on clemency lists

Reply to freshwest (Reply #11)

Sun Mar 22, 2015, 10:37 AM

Mar 2015

I've been disappointed in the low number of pardons and commutations the president has signed and feel there should be more. He did address this in his latest interview with the Huffington Post. I'm encouraged that the Justice Department is using The Clemency Report for this purpose.

These are some of my specific concerns:

http://clemencyreport.org/

They've done a lot to reform the system, but too many are incarcerated that shouldn't be with no end in sight. I want this president to end the suffering of these inmates and their families.

freshwest

(53,661 posts)

6. Obama delegated this to often reviled Eric Holder:

Reply to RussBLib (Original post)

Thu Mar 19, 2015, 02:47 AM

Mar 2015

Eric Holder seeks to cut mandatory minimum drug sentences

The Justice Department will no longer pursue mandatory minimum sentences for certain low-level, nonviolent drug offenders, Attorney General Eric Holder said Monday, noting the nation is "coldly efficient in jailing criminals," but that it "cannot prosecute or incarcerate" its way to becoming safer.

"Too many Americans go to too many prisons for far too long, and for no truly good law enforcement reason," Holder told the American Bar Association's House of Delegates in San Francisco.

He questioned some assumptions about the criminal justice system's approach to the "war on drugs," saying that excessive incarceration has been an "ineffective and unsustainable" part of it.

Although he said the United States should not abandon being tough on crime, Holder embraced steps to address "shameful" racial disparities in sentencing, the budgetary strains of overpopulated prisons and policies for incarceration that punish and rehabilitate, "not merely to warehouse and forget."

Holder invoked President Barack Obama, saying the two had been talking about the issues and agreed to try to "strike a balance" that clears the way for a "pragmatic" and "commonsense" solutions to enhance public safety and the "public good."

http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/12/politics/holder-mandatory-minimums/

Eric Holder Was Great on Drugs

...In the weeks following his re-election, Obama added: “There are millions of lives out there that are being destroyed or distorted because we haven’t fully thought through our [criminal justice] process.” The real leadership on broader sentencing reform, however, came from Eric Holder.

In August of 2013, the attorney general issued new guidelines to federal prosecutors designed to reduce the number of people charged with harsh mandatory minimum sentences. In November, speaking in Medellin, Colombia, to an inter-American gathering of public security ministers, he condemned the mass incarceration policies in his own country as “both inadvisable and unsustainable.” “It carries,” he said, “both human and moral costs that are too much to bear.”

In January, he successfully lobbied the Senate Judiciary Committee to pass the farthest-reaching reform of mandatory minimums to date. In April, perhaps prompted by harsh criticism of how few clemencies Obama had issued, the administration announced a major clemency initiative that could free hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people locked up for low-level drug offenses. Meanwhile, Holder’s changes in how drug offenses are charged, and his support for sentencing reform in the U.S. Sentencing Commission and Congress, will lead to thousands released early or sentenced to shorter terms.

Even more remarkable than Holder’s bold speeches and reforms on sentencing matters was his shift on marijuana policy last year. This represented a remarkable turnabout from Obama’s first term, when the president mocked the notion of legalization and Holder warned California voters that federal agents would “vigorously enforce” federal law if Californians approved a legalization initiative on the ballot in 2010. The first hint that change might be afoot came two years later, when Holder refrained from issuing similar warnings to voters in Colorado, Washington and Oregon, notwithstanding the entreaties of former drug czars and DEA chiefs. And a second hint became apparent following the Election Day victories in Colorado and Washington, when the newly re-elected Obama administration said it needed time to think about its response...

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/09/eric-holder-was-great-on-drugs-111354.html

Attorney General Eric Holder sees success in fewer drug prosecutions

Washington (CNN) Federal prosecutors are bringing fewer prosecutions for illegal drugs and less often seeking mandatory minimum sentences, changes that Attorney General Eric Holder is hailing a major success of his tenure.

At the same time, the crimes being prosecuted carried higher minimum sentences on average because less-serious cases aren't being pursued by federal prosecutors, according to Attorney General Eric Holder, citing data from the U.S. Sentencing Commission...

Holder views the sentencing changes as a civil rights issue, because he and others argue that tough drug sentencing laws have a disproportionate impact on black and other minority defendants. The tough sentencing laws has also led to high incarceration rates and high prison costs, an issue drawing attention from both liberal and conservative political leaders.

"For years prior to this administration, federal prosecutors were not only encouraged -- but required -- to always seek the most severe prison sentence possible for all drug cases, no matter the relative risk they posed to public safety. I have made a break from that philosophy," Holder said. "While old habits are hard to break, these numbers show that a dramatic shift is underway in the mindset of prosecutors handling nonviolent drug offenses. I believe we have taken steps to institutionalize this fairer, more practical approach such that it will endure for years to come..."

"This newly unveiled data shows we can confront over-incarceration at the same time that we continue to promote public safety," Holder says in prepared remarks. "Already, in fiscal Year 2014, we saw the first reduction in the federal prison population in 32 years. Meanwhile, since President Obama took office, we've presided over a continued decline in the overall crime rate. This marks the first time that any Administration has achieved side-by-side reductions in both crime and incarceration in more than forty years."

http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/17/politics/attorney-general-eric-holder-drug-sentencing-prosecutions/

BTW, this is the BOG. The SOP is pinned at ther top of the index.

Cha

(297,275 posts)

7. Thanks for the report on Eric Holder, fresh!

Reply to freshwest (Reply #6)

Thu Mar 19, 2015, 02:54 AM

Mar 2015

freshwest

(53,661 posts)

8. Thanks for dropping by and the thread with the bumper sticker on Walker! Hilarious!

Reply to Cha (Reply #7)

Thu Mar 19, 2015, 02:59 AM

Mar 2015

Cha

(297,275 posts)

9. You're welcome, fresh.. and thank you! "Hilarious" and TRUE!

Reply to freshwest (Reply #8)

Thu Mar 19, 2015, 03:13 AM

Mar 2015

Hekate

(90,708 posts)

10. Gods, yes. When I think of the suffering that could be relieved, both medically and societally...

Reply to RussBLib (Original post)

Fri Mar 20, 2015, 03:34 AM

Mar 2015

The great thing about AG Holder is that he is continuing to work every single day while the Senate is still screwing around delaying the vote on Loretta Lynch. The office is not empty.

I hope, I hope that POTUS and AG can somehow bring this to pass.