The lifted ban is part of the $1.4 trillion government pandemic stimulus package for 2021 and reflects a long push for prison reform which encourages rehabilitation and lowered incarceration rates.
U.S. government lifts ban on federal student aid for incarcerated individuals Read more
Called the Pitzer Inside-Out Pathway-to-BA, the program uses virtual learning to welcome incarcerated individuals into the classroom with other university students.
Pitzer launches US’ first bachelor’s program for incarcerated individuals Read more
50,000 more Californians were welcomed back into the democratic process this election as the state celebrates the passing of Prop 17. The proposition, which passed with support from 59 percent of voters, will allow paroled citizens convicted of felonies to vote.
Prop 17 restores voting rights for 50,000 paroled citizens in California Read more
Voters have approved ballot measures to legalize recreational marijuana in Arizona and New Jersey, and both recreational and medical use in in South Dakota. Results have not yet been determined for Montana’s ballot questions on recreational marijuana and Mississippi’s medical marijuana measure.
Arizona, New Jersey, South Dakota vote to legalize recreational marijuana Read more
Campaigners celebrated the first “dramatic” results from Middlesbrough’s scheme, which found a vast reduction in re-offending rates and use of street drugs, and significant improvements in participants’ health and quality of life, including seeing those homeless at the outset placed in accommodation.
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam signed legislation on Thursday that decriminalizes marijuana possession, joining a majority of states that have ceased treating the drug as a criminal offense.
Virginia decriminalizes cannabis Read more
The nation’s imprisonment rate is at its lowest level in more than two decades. The greatest decline has come among black Americans, whose imprisonment rate has decreased 34% since 2006.
Black imprisonment rate in the U.S. has fallen by 34% since 2006 Read more
Cannabis has long been illegally farmed in the fertile Bekaa Valley and government now hopes to turn it into a legal billion-dollar trade
Lebanon becomes first Arab country to legalize cannabis farming for medical use Read more
The move, which comes years after California voters legalized weed, reverses decades of drug enforcement that disproportionately targeted people of color — who then faced barriers in finding housing and jobs and enrolling in school.
L.A. County district attorney wipes 66,000 marijuana convictions Read more
Illinois’ governor granted more than 11,000 pardons for low-level marijuana convictions, describing the step as a first wave of thousands of such expungements.
Illinois governor clears thousands of marijuana convictions Read more
