[csusbpeace] GOP Govs Reject Cannabis Pardons After Getting Private Prison Cash
- From: "raccoon" <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> ("bigraccoon1")
- To: "CSUSBPEACE@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <CSUSBPEACE@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 12 Oct 2022 06:39:33 -0700
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GOP Govs Reject Cannabis Pardons After Getting Private Prison Cash
Republicans brush off Biden’s request for leniency as private prison donors
dump big money into GOP coffers.
Republican governors rejecting a new White House call to pardon low-level
marijuana offenders have raked in big campaign donations from the private
prison industry that has a financial interest in continuing the drug war.
Last Thursday, Biden said
<https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1578097879390031874?s=20&t=XFu4GESGc1warRX8eo2Nkw>
he is “calling on governors to pardon simple state marijuana possession
offenses.” In response, Republican Govs. Greg Abbott (Texas), Bill Lee
(Tenn.) and Asa Hutchinson (Ark.) issued statements brushing off the request.
Those three governors have raked in more than $263,000
<https://www.followthemoney.org/show-me?dt=1&law-eid=3938800,11281947,43992255&d-ccb=208#[%7B1%7Cgro=f-eid>
from donors linked to the private prison industry, which profits off
tough-on-crime policies and incarceration. In all, the private prison
industry has funneled more than $1 million
<https://www.followthemoney.org/show-me?dt=1&y=2022,2021,2020,2019&f-fc=2,3&d-ccb=208#[%7B1%7Cgro=f-eid>
into state elections in the last 4 years, mostly to Republicans.
Additionally, since 2020, two private prison giants alone — CoreCivic and the
GEO Group — have dumped more than $1.7 million into the Republican Governors
Association which bankrolls GOP gubernatorial campaigns across the country.
Meanwhile, the industry has spent more than $8.5 million
<https://www.followthemoney.org/show-me?dt=3&lby-y=2022,2021,2020&lby-f-fc=2&lby-f-ccb=208&lby-f-fc=2#[%7B1%7Cgro=>
on state lobbying in the last three years.
The dynamic hints at the next obstacle in efforts to reform the nation’s drug
laws. As more state lawmakers face pressure to decriminalize or legalize
marijuana, the prison industry, backed by campaign donations, could intensify
its efforts to preserve drug-war policies that maintain current incarceration
rates — and its profits.
The industry openly admits the connection between such policies and its
revenues. For instance: CoreCivic’s most recent annual report
<https://ir.corecivic.com/static-files/d3f1752e-87b8-4256-99ed-f3803c5817f8>
notes that the company’s profits rely on harsh drug laws.
“The demand for our facilities and services could be adversely affected by
the relaxation of enforcement efforts, the expansion of alternatives to
incarceration and detention, leniency in conviction or parole standards and
sentencing practices through the decriminalization of certain activities that
are currently proscribed by criminal laws,” says the report. “Any changes
with respect to drugs and controlled substances or illegal immigration could
affect the number of persons arrested, convicted, and sentenced, thereby
potentially reducing demand for correctional or detention facilities to house
them.”
A large share of private prison industry donations have flowed to Republicans
in Florida, where the GEO Group is based and where it has been awarded state
contracts
<https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/2013/12/16/new-contracts-give-private-prison-giant-nearly-80-percent-floridas-private/15805432007/>.
The industry has donated more than $1 million
<https://www.followthemoney.org/show-me?dt=1&s=FL&y=2022,2021,2020&d-ccb=208#[%7B1%7Cgro=f-eid>
to Florida Republican Party committees, and another $269,000
<https://www.followthemoney.org/show-me?dt=1&f-fc=2,3&law-eid=17657831&d-ccb=208#[%7B1%7Cgro=f-eid>
to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who has not commented
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/10/07/biden-marijuana-midterm-elections/>
on Biden’s pardon request.
Not all Republicans are opposing Biden’s reforms. Reps. Dave Joyce (R-OH) and
Nancy Mace (R-SC) both praised the move
<https://thehill.com/homenews/house/3677874-gop-rep-nancy-mace-praises-biden-on-marijuana-pardons-credit-where-credit-is-due/>,
with the latter telling Fox Business: “I don’t always agree with the Biden
administration, I’ve been very vocal about that, but this is a step in the
right direction.”
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- » [csusbpeace] GOP Govs Reject Cannabis Pardons After Getting Private Prison Cash - raccoon
