This is going to kill a major source of income for people who invest in prisons, so expect a glut of think pieces proclaiming how bad this is for the US. https://mastodon.social/@MattHodges/111624290936045566
@are0h not necessarily—the pardon only affects federal charges of possession and use (so not convictions on dealing/intent to distribute, and not state convictions) and the number of people currently in federal prison for possession is 0 and has been since at least the fall of 2022. There are many people who’ve been released but still have those convictions on their records where this removes a serious hindrance to their ability to find work, housing, etc and that may in turn have *some* impact on people being re-convicted due to shitty life situations but overall the prison population unfortunately isn’t changing much bc of this.
Would really love to see some state governors follow suit with this kind of move since there are a *lot* more people in state prisons for drug offenses. And obviously the laws themselves should be taken off the books as well, at both the federal and state level, and hopefully this helps build some political momentum towards doing that? But w/out doing either of those things its effect is seriously limited
@Satsuma Biden did this to influence state legislators as marijuana has been effectively decriminalized at the federal level already.
He knows some will follow and some won't but those margins matter to people who are invested in private prisons because it will cut into those profits even if only a few follow suit.
It's not about what happens at this moment. It's about the ripple effect.
Look at California passing the NIL bill for example. These seemingly singular moments affect a lot more in the long run.