The Pen To Right History
Last Prisoner Project
Cannabis is a $40+ billion-dollar legal industry in the United States. Millions are enjoying it. And yet, around 40,000 people are still in prison for it. 25 million have been arrested for it. Once it’s on your criminal record, it can make it infinitely harder to find a job or even a home. An overwhelming majority of those impacted are black and brown Americans.
To enact justice in America often requires passing legislation, popular vote or a Supreme Court decision. But the only real solution is this case is insultingly simple: a signature from a politician. Just one signature from any of the 51 most powerful people in the country, U.S. State Governors or the President, can free someone from the shackles of their criminal past.
The only thing that’s ever fixed injustice in America is a signature. So we created something with enough power to change history: a pen that carried the voice of the people.
We named it “The Pen to Right History.” We put the pen in the hands of people all over the country impacted directly by cannabis injustice in America: previously incarcerated individuals, mothers, sons, daughters and friends. The pen became more than plastic and ink. The pen became their voice. They addressed their letters to politicians, asking them to use their pardon power to take action. To right history.
And it did.
Governor Wes Moore used The Pen To Right History to
pardon 175,000 cannabis convictions on June 17, 2024.
175,000 convictions pardoned
•
the largest state-level pardon in U.S. history
•
175,000 convictions pardoned • the largest state-level pardon in U.S. history •
“We cannot celebrate the benefits of legalization while forgetting the consequences of criminalization.”
“Maryland governor pardons 175,000 marijuana convictions in sweeping order.”
“This is a big deal for me. After 12 years I can finally say I have a clean record.”
The
journey
of the
pen
The pen started in the hands
of one prisoner's daughter.
“This pen in my hands can bring my father to your attention. The same pen in your hands has the power to set him free.”
We bombarded all 51 leaders with mounting private pressure with 20,000 letters asking for them to take the pen.
20,000 letters
A Kansas
man’s freedom
A mother, brother, small business owner and countless friends used The Pen To Right History to ask Governor Laura Kelly to free Deshaun Durham from Kansas State Prison.
On December 6, 2024, Governor Kelly commuted his sentence, returning him home to his family.
“This is the happiest day of my life.”
The pen
inspired action
A binder with the letters and pen was sent to President Biden right before his final cannabis pardons that freed many Last Prisoner Project constituents.
“Biden Commutes Sentences of Nearly 2,500 Drug Offenders”
Governor Wes Moore
