Other Cities Considering Following San Francisco's Lead in Clearing Marijuana Convictions
San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón says three other California cities reached out to his office after he announced this week the city is wiping out Marijuana convictions dating back to 1975. Cheddar's Baker Machado spoke with Gascón about why he felt it was so important to clear these convictions.
"We've had now three different jurisdictions that have approached me, and my office this morning," said Gascón. "People in California are tired of the war on drugs, they are tired of the war on marijuana."
With San Francisco's move more than 3,000 misdemeanor convictions will be dismissed, and sealed automatically. Nearly 5,000 felony marijuana convictions will be reviewed for potential reduction, and resentencing said Gascón.
"We wanted to provide immediate relief for our community," said Gascón. "We are very concerned about the conversation at the national level where we have our Attorney General talking about marijuana being an existential threat to the American way of life."
A legislative package to end the government shutdown appears on track. A handful of Senate Democrats joined with Republicans to advance the bill after what's become a deepening disruption of federal programs and services. But hurdles remain. Senators are hopeful they can pass the package as soon as Monday and send it to the House. What’s in and out of the bipartisan deal has drawn criticism and leaves few senators fully satisfied. The legislation includes funding for SNAP food aid and other programs while ensuring backpay for furloughed federal workers. But it fails to fund expiring health care subsidies Democrats have been fighting for, pushing that debate off for a vote next month.
Sabrina Siddiqui, National Politics Reporter at The Wall Street Journal, joins to break down the SNAP funding delays and the human cost of the ongoing shutdown.
Arguments at the Supreme Court have concluded for the day as the justices consider President Donald Trump's sweeping unilateral tariffs in a trillion-dollar test of executive power.
President Donald Trump said he has decided to lower his combined tariff rates on imports of Chinese goods to 47% after talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on curbing fentanyl trafficking.
The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate Wednesday for a second time this year as it seeks to shore up economic growth and hiring even as inflation stays elevated. The move comes amid a fraught time for the central bank, with hiring sluggish and yet inflation stuck above the Fed’s 2% target. Compounding its challenges, the central bank is navigating without much of the economic data it typically relies on from the government. The Fed has signaled it may reduce its key rate again in December but the data drought raises the uncertainty around its next moves. Fed Chair Jerome Powell told reporters that there were “strongly differing views” at the central bank's policy meeting about to proceed going forward.
