Michigan becomes first state in Midwest to allow recreational cannabis
Michigan is now the first Midwestern state to legally allow recreational cannabis. It’s the 10th state to legalize recreational pot.
Prison justice
Florida restores voting rights to more than 1 million former felons
Amendment 4 automatically reinstates voting rights for people with felony convictions upon completion of their sentences, including prison, parole and probation.
Washington state abolishes death penalty
Washington has become the 20th US state to ban the death penalty, after its Supreme Court ruled the punishment was applied in an “arbitrary and racially biased manner”.
New report finds raising the minimum wage reduces prison recidivism
Economics professors found that a minimum wage increase of $.50 an hour reduced the chance that a person would end up back in prison within a year by 2.8%.
Canada becomes second nation in the world to legalize marijuana
Recreational marijuana use will soon be legal in Canada after the Senate passed a “historic” bill on Tuesday with a vote of 52-29.
U.S. federal judge in Missouri grants transgender inmates transition-related health care
Denying transgender prisoners transition-related health care violates their Eighth Amendment rights, according to a final ruling from a federal judge in Missouri, in an important win for transgender people in the prison system.
America’s incarceration rate is at a two-decade low
The nation’s incarceration rate has declined every year since 2006 and is now at its lowest point since 1996.
Seattle vacates hundreds of marijuana charges going back 30 years
The City of Seattle on Friday filed a motion asking the court to vacate hundreds of marijuana possession convictions going back three decades and adversely impacting people of color.
Families of those killed by police to get attorneys in King County inquests regardless of financial status
Legislation passed by the Metropolitan King County Council on Monday calls for the county’s Department of Public Defense to provide attorneys to families participating in inquests no matter their financial status.
New York City divests pension funds entirely from private prisons
New York City has become the first government in the U.S. to divest its pension funds from private prisons.