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Tag: States’ Rights
Pros & Cons of D.C. Statehood
In a historic move, the U.S. House of Representatives voted in late June to make the District of Columbia a state. The D.C. Admission Act (H.R. 51), introduced by the District’s long-serving, nonvoting Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, would make D.C. the 51st state, allowing it to hold elections for two senators and one representative. The new state would be renamed “Washington, Douglass Commonwealth.” The bill passed the House by a largely party-line vote of 232-180. No Republicans voted for the bill, which conservatives have decried as a “power grab” by Democrats (one Democrat, Rep. Collin Peterson of Minnesota, voted against…
Marijuana Law Enforcement
On January 4, a few days after marijuana became legal in California, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that he was rescinding the Obama Administration policy of non-interference with State marijuana laws. Though marijuana remains illegal under Federal law, the Obama Justice Department had issued guidance discouraging enforcement of that law in States where the substance has been legalized. Eight States and the District of Columbia now have laws allowing for recreational marijuana use, and many more permit the use of medical marijuana. In a memo to U.S. attorneys, Sessions said prosecutors should disregard the old guidance and instead use their…