chill's Journal: President to Pardon All Federal Simple Possession Offenses

The White House has announced that President Biden will pardon all prior Federal offenses of simple marijuana possession. This will also apply to DC convictions.

What proportionof prosecutions are "federal"

[RockDoctor]

Not being American, this story is uninformative without knowing the proportion of prosecutions which are performed by federal authorities versus ... is the alternative state, county, city or some "district" prosecutor?

If 99% of prosecutions are by Billy'n'Bob, redneck cousins to the village judge and hangman, then "federal" pardons aren't going to do much good. Or is there a route from Billy'n'Bob's jurisdiction into "federal" jurisdiction?

Re:

[chill]

Let me provide some context. According to the UK-based World Prison Brief [prisonstudies.org], as of 2020 there were 1,675,400 people incarcerated in the United States. According the the US Bureau of Justice Statistics that breaks down to 549,100 in local jails, 975,000 in state prisons, 151,300 federal prisoners, and 84 Indian Country Jails (2,020 at mid-year 2020). The difference between jails and prisons [prisonersolidarity.org] in the US is basically jails are for local, short-term, and misdemeanor offenses. Prisons are for longer, more serious, f

Re:

[RockDoctor]

So, the short version is that probably negligible people will be freed, directly or indirectly by this piece of political window-dressing.

marijuana's status as a Schedule I drug. This is the basis for the criminal convictions -- not marijuana itself, but its status as a prohibited substance.

Yeah, well that's generally the case. If 90% v/v caustic soda (£1 for 250g as "drain cleaner" at several shops nearby here) had significant psychedelic effects, it probably wouldn't need classifying as a "pro

Re:

[chill]

In US law there are three gross levels of crimes -- infractions, misdemeanors, and felonies, in order of severity. Here are the official definitions [findlaw.com] and classifications. This [findlaw.com] is a good, plain language explanation.

Federal vs State is a matter of jurisdiction [mylawquestions.com]. The Feds have jurisdictions on Federal lands and property, including at sea, if the parties are in two or more States and it involves more than $10,000, or it is about Federal law.

Federal laws are those passed by Congress and signed into law by the Pre