In 2020, just days after New Jersey residents voted to legalize adult-use cannabis, Humberto Ramirez was sentenced to up to seven years in state prison for transporting 6 pounds of marijuana in his trunk. Mercifully, last month—following years of tireless advocacy—Humberto was released to his loving family. Upon their unification, Brooke Popplewell, Humberto’s partner, was overcome with emotion, marveling that “... we went back to our normal routine. Did yard work and went food shopping together… The smile on our daughter’s face was priceless.”
Fortunately, Humberto isn’t the only LPP Constituent who has recently returned home from cannabis-related incarceration in New Jersey. Alvi Ghaznavi and Mario Ramos, two other individuals featured in our
New Jersey Clemency Campaign, have also been released over the past eighteen months.
While we’ve enjoyed celebrating the newfound freedom of constituents like Alvi, Mario, and Humberto, we must note that their releases don’t mark the end of Last Prisoner Project’s work in New Jersey. After all, there is still a lot of work to do to redress the harms of cannabis criminalization in the state.
To that end, we’re still working to secure the “full freedom” of our New Jersey constituents, several of whom remain under some form or fashion of intensive state supervision. We’re also still calling on Governor Murphy to issue formal clemency grants to Humberto, Alvi, and Mario, as well other individuals still incarcerated for cannabis in New Jersey.
Last Prisoner Project also has legislative goals in the state. Our policy team continues to work with lawmakers and state agencies to ensure all individuals entitled to record clearance and sentence modification under New Jersey law receive the relief they deserve. We’re also working on a legislative solution that could make issuing clemency grants easier for the Governor.
The Last Prisoner Project. All rights reserved.
Last Prisoner Project is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization with EIN 83-4502829. Mailing address: 1312 17th St #640 Denver, CO 80202. Our governing documents and conflicts of interest policy can be found here. Our Privacy Policy can be found here.
Website built on KUSHY