The end of 2004 brought a flurry of news in the areas of drug policy and incarceration. And, as fitting the holiday season, reports demonstrated two fine examples of goodwill and compassion.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger launched the first salvo on December 22, pardoning three former state inmates who had each been convicted of various nonviolent drug offenses. Those pardoned by the governor included a man who sold heroin to undercover police (and who has since become active in providing drug treatment to juveniles) and another man sentenced for drugged driving. While several of the governor’s predecessors – including George Deukmejian, Jerry Brown and Ronald Reagan – made frequent use of their pardon authority, Schwarzenegger’s immediate predecessors Gray Davis and Pete Wilson made little or no use of such power.

The week following the pardons Martha Stewart, writing from prison, called in a holiday message posted at her personal website for an end to the imprisonment of people convicted of nonviolent drug offenses.

“I beseech you all... to encourage the American people to ask for reforms, both in sentencing guidelines, in length of incarceration for nonviolent first-time offenders, and for those involved in drug-taking,” Stewart wrote.

But the end-of-year news was not all good. President Bush, following recent precedent, pardoned just four people – none of whom were convicted of any crime involving drugs. According to the Washington Post, Bush claims to have made a mistake while governor in pardoning a man who grew marijuana because, after being pardoned, the man was caught stealing cocaine.

Content provided courtesy of Drug Policy Alliance.