Marijuana and Criminal Justice Reform Advance in Key States
*By Chloe Aiello*
Michigan became the first Midwestern state to fully legalize recreational marijuana on Tuesday ー one of four states with marijuana-related legislation on the ballot in the 2018 midterms. Marijuana was one of the key issues up for review on multiple state ballots on Election Day Tuesday alongside criminal justice reform.
Michigan voters approved Proposition 1, granting all cannabis enthusiasts 21 or older access to the drug, as well as the right to possess up to 10 ounces of marijuana and grow 12 plants in their homes. In Utah, a traditionally conservative state, voters approved Proposition 2, which allows people with certain illnesses to acquire medical cannabis and in some cases, grow up to six plants for personal use. In Missouri, voters had three chances to pass medical marijuana at various tax rates. Voters passed Amendment 2, which will tax marijuana at 4 percent and apply those revenues to health care and veteran services.
North Dakota was a bit of a different story. Voters overwhelmingly rejected legalizing recreational marijuana, voting down a measure that would have also erased certain prior marijuana-related convictions from the records of offenders.
Marijuana wasn't the only major ballot initiative up for review on Tuesday.
Florida and Louisiana both had ballot initiatives that addressed criminal justice reform. Florida voters passed Amendment 4, which gives convicted felons the right to vote after completing their sentences ー so long as they are not convicted murderers or felony sex offenders. Louisiana now gives convicted felons the right to seek public office five years after completing their sentence. Oregon voters rejected an effort to repeal the state's sanctuary status, meaning police cannot arrest illegal immigrants there unless they violating the law.
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Republican Mike Johnson is the new speaker of the House, but the ally of Donald Trump inherits many of the same political problems that have tormented past GOP leaders.
President Joe Biden on Wednesday spoke out against retaliatory attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel. He also says he's redoubling his commitment to working on a two-state solution.
The U.N. warned on Wednesday that it is on the verge of running out of fuel in the Gaza Strip, forcing it to sharply curtail relief efforts in the territory blockaded and devastated by Israeli airstrikes since Hamas militants launched an attack on Israel more than two weeks ago.
The judge in Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial fined the former president $10,000 on Wednesday, saying Trump violated a limited gag order barring personal attacks on court staffers.
Republicans eagerly elected Rep. Mike Johnson as House speaker on Wednesday, elevating a deeply conservative but lesser-known leader to the seat of U.S. power and ending for now the political chaos in their majority.
With mail theft and postal carrier robberies up, law enforcement officials have made more than 600 arrests since May in a crackdown launched to address crime that includes carriers being accosted at gunpoint for their antiquated universal keys, the Postal Service announced Wednesday.
