President Joe Biden’s choice of attorney general said on Monday that it is not “a useful use of limited resources” to harass people who are complying with state marijuana laws. He also cited cannabis crackdowns as an example of the racially discriminatory impact of the criminal justice system.
Judge Merrick Garland, whose views on marijuana policy have been very obscure to date, said the issue is “a matter of prioritizing resources and discretion,” and he signaled that the Justice Department would adopt an interception policy for most cases of marijuana, similar to what was implemented in the government of President Barack Obama, if it has been confirmed.
“I don’t think it is useful to use limited resources that we have to seek prosecutions in states that have legalized and are regulating the use of marijuana, whether clinically or not,” he said when asked by Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) during his hearing. confirmation before the Senate Judiciary Committee. “I don’t think it’s a useful use.”
“I think we need to make sure that there is no end to the state laws that criminal companies are practicing. This type of inspection must continue, ”he said. “But I don’t think it’s a good use of our resources where the states have already authorized it, and that obviously only confuses people within the state.”
This view is consistent with the policies put in place under Obama – known as the Cole Memorandum – and later terminated by President Donald Trump’s first attorney general, Jeff Sessions.
See Garland’s comments on marijuana policy below:
Garland also said earlier at the hearing that he thinks the enforcement of marijuana criminalization is the “perfect example” of how the criminal justice system is racially prejudiced and disproportionately impacts communities of color. And because marijuana possession arrests can “follow a person for the rest of their lives,” he said the Justice Department should avoid prosecuting those cases.
He proactively returned to the matter after it was first raised by Booker and predicted actions that the Justice Department could take to resolve these systemic problems.
“One of the great things that motivates prisons in our country – surprisingly for me, even if it is still the case – is marijuana arrests. In 2019 we had more marijuana possession arrests than all combined violent crime arrests, ”said Booker, adding that these arrests fall unevenly among black and brown Americans, despite the fact that whites use cannabis at a comparable rate .
“Is this evidence that there is implicit racial prejudice within the system?” Booker, who is part of a trio of lawmakers who lead the charge of federal legalization in the Senate, asked.
“This is definitely evidence of a disparate treatment in the system, which I think arises from an implicit bias – unconscious bias, perhaps, sometimes conscious bias,” said Garland. “This is a specific part of why, at this point, I think I wanted to be the attorney general.”
Booker took Garland’s argument about implicit prejudice and reiterated that just because there are racial disparities in the justice system does not necessarily mean that those who carry out repression are openly racist. Biden’s nominee replied that “this is correct” and the “marijuana example is a perfect example that you set here”.
“This is a non-violent use crime that does not require us to arrest people, and we are incarcerating at significantly different rates in different communities,” said Garland. “This is wrong, and it is the kind of problem that will follow a person for the rest of their lives. This will make it impossible to get a job, it will lead to a downward economic spiral for your family. “
See Garland’s additional comments on cannabis policy below:
“If you look only at the impact of the law and the uneven impact on marijuana alone, it is estimated that it will cost African American communities in this country billions of dollars more,” Booker, who was recently named president of a major subcommittee in the Judiciary, followed. “My question for you now is, assuming this position … what are you going to do about this outrageous injustice that persists and infects our society at such a high price in black and brown communities?”
Garland said that there are “many things the Department of Justice must do in this regard” and one of them is “we can focus our attention on violent crimes and other crimes that pose great danger to our society, and not allocate our resources to something like size of marijuana. “
He added that prosecutors could further mitigate mass incarceration by reviewing and revising sentencing standards so that people do not face maximum punishment for certain crimes.
Also at the hearing, Garland reviewed the idea of lowering the application’s priority against cannabis possession after being pressured by Senator Jon Ossoff (D-GA) to ensure racial equality in the justice system.
He said “an important way [to achieve equity] is to focus on the crimes that really matter – to bring our prosecution and imprisonment for violent and other crimes that deeply affect our society and not to emphasize marijuana possession so much, for example, that it disproportionately affected communities of color and then hurt after the original arrest for because of the inability to get jobs. “
See the discussion between Ossoff and Garland below:
The nominee reiterated that sentencing reform must also be part of the solution, and that includes resolving the sentence gap between crack and powder for cocaine, which “has had an enormously disproportionate impact on communities of color, but that the evidence shows is related to the dangerousness of the two drugs. “
While Sessions took measures on marijuana policy that are viewed as hostile by defenders, Trump’s second attorney general, William Barr, maintained that Congress should take steps to resolve the state-federal conflict over marijuana policy. But he made no final statement about the need to change gears administratively, nor did he spend time while in office to acknowledge racial disparities in marijuana use.
Barr reportedly ordered the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division to conduct investigations into 10 marijuana mergers for personal animosity to the industry. A whistleblower who testified before a major House committee claimed that the investigations were unnecessary and wasted departmental resources. But the deputy attorney general at the Antitrust Division later argued that the investigations were in fact “consistent with protecting consumer access to marijuana products, not with animosity towards the industry.”
Garland, who had previously been nominated by Obama to serve on the Supreme Court only to have his nomination blocked by Senate Republicans, was relatively silent on the matter before the confirmation hearing. His court record indicated that he believes in deference to the Drug Enforcement Administration when it comes to scheduling drugs, raising initial concerns among advocates.
But while his broader oversight position remains to be seen, Garland clearly expressed on Monday that he feels that the federal government should generally not waste departmental resources to interfere in the state’s legal markets and that lower-level cannabis offenses they should not justify the imprisonment of individuals.
It now appears apparent that he and Biden are mainly aligned on this issue, supporting decriminalization and non-interference in state cannabis programs, as the president asked during his campaign.
Biden also supports the legalization of medical marijuana, modestly reprogramming the plant and eliminating previous marijuana convictions. He continues to oppose the legalization of adult use, however, despite the support of the absolute majority for policy change within his party.
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