What is the Last Prisoner Project you may ask?
Short answer: the project aims to keep you from going to jail over cannabis possession while releasing those currently serving time for cannabis possession, and more.
From the LPP website:
” Imagine sitting in a cell for years, decades, or even for life, convicted of an activity that is no longer a crime, while thousands of other people build intergenerational wealth doing exactly the same thing. The Last Prisoner Project focuses on three key criminal justice reform initiatives: clemency, expungement, and reentry. A core focus of the project is to release incarcerated individuals. Data shows, however, that released prisoners are destined to fail without the proper resources in place. Reentry can be incredibly difficult, and two-thirds of released prisoners will be arrested again within three years. Additionally, a criminal record can be a significant barrier to employment, housing, financial assistance, and more. “
Over 40,000 people face this situation today. And the number of people going to jail for these offenses is outpacing other crimes. In the FBI’s South Region (this includes Texas), 44.8% of drug-related arrests for 2018 were for marijuana possession. The current full number for 2018 is not currently known because the administration in charge right now, has made it difficult for the FBI to publish such data for the public with the claim of condensing the information for ease.
In the past, the data could easily be gathered and compared as seen below.
The project though was started by nationally known cannabis activist Steve DeAngelo. What he created will be focusing on this one task, keeping people away from prisons over cannabis and wants to go about it by having this focus:
Clemency: Working to release individuals still incarcerated for victimless cannabis offenses.
Re-entry: Helping individuals in the post-release phase rebuild their lives through vocational training programs and building pathways to employment.
Advocacy: LPP is going with the flow of our current momentum involving criminal justice reform to promote legislation that ensures that all cannabis prisoners walk free, as well as supporting resentencing and retrial efforts for the most egregious cannabis sentences. Look to Illinois as an example. This is done by supporting the work of advocacy and legal services providers through expungement clinics.
The expungement clinic is so crucial to this operation as the arrests of minorities for this offense happens at a higher rate for them, than their caucasian counterparts. Often those groups of people lack the knowledge and resources in states where legalization has taken place to get an expungement or release from prison performed.
Currently, the project has been hosting fundraising dinners and gathering donations from the general public and businesses to get the project off the ground and helping those who need it. For those interested check out https://www.lastprisonerproject.org/