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Colby Standley and Maria Kinsey Released from Prison, Hope to Reunite Soon

Stephen Post • Nov 02, 2022

We are happy to share that Last Prisoner Project (LPP) constituents Colby Standley and Juanita “Maria” Kinsey, who have been married since 2012, have now both been released from prison. The couple have not been able to hear each other’s voices since they were sentenced in 2019.


After having served over three years of a sixty-three-month sentence for conspiracy to traffic cannabis, trafficking cannabis, and possession Colby Standley was released on parole in September of this year. Last week, Maria Kinsey—who served over three years of a seventy-nine-month sentence for selling cannabis to medical patients in Florida—was released to a community release and re-entry center (CRC). She is projected to remain in custody at the CRC until September of next year. 


Maria is a loving mother and wife. Maria gave birth to her second daughter, while in custody. Now three and a half years old, she has been without her parents since her birth. Maria loves dogs and had five before she was incarcerated. She currently works in the dog therapy program in her prison and hopes to work training therapy dogs upon her release.


Colby, now 40 years old, will be continuing with the job he had while in the work release center at Tallahassee CRC, and a kind coworker will now also be his landlord.  He is looking forward to being a hands-on father and dreams of eventually moving back to Northern California with his family to pursue a career in the robust legal cannabis industry.


Colby characterized his incarceration thusly, “This single event has impacted our lives more than I can express with words. Our lives were completely destroyed. We were one month pregnant when we went into that awful jail, and Maria ended up giving birth behind bars. I didn't even get to meet my little girl till years later. She is three and a half years old now and barely knows us.” 


He also shared his goals now that he is out of prison saying, “If I can get a safe place for her I can get custody, and someday our family can be whole. We lost everything in this nightmare, our home, cars, possessions, family, and each other… I can get her back and start building a relationship with her. Finally, get to be a father. I would have a safe place for Maria to come home to when she gets out in late 2023.”


Maria is equally excited for that day saying, “We cannot wait to get out and be the best parents we can be!”


In addition to the reentry grants given to Colby and Maria, LPP is committed to providing them with ongoing support post-release to ensure their successful transition back into society.


“We will be able to overcome this with some help. LPP has been a lifeline for us these past years and I will do my part when I get out of this mess,” said Colby, who used his grant to pay for a place to stay upon his release. 


LPP would like to give special thanks to LPP pro bono attorney and Legal Committee Member Chiara Juster, of Chiara Law, for her tireless work on Colby’s and Maria’s cases. 


Although Colby and Maria will still suffer the collateral consequences of their incarceration, we are very happy to see them both out of prison. We look forward to the day when they will finally be reunited with each other… fully free.

By Stephen Post 02 May, 2024
This week, Senators Booker, Schumer, and Wyden reintroduced the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (CAOA), comprehensive legislation that would legalize cannabis federally, expunge cannabis records, and release cannabis prisoners. Here are just a few highlights to help breakdown this bill: CAOA, if passed, could finally decriminalize cannabis on the federal level. Federal courts would have 1 year to expunge or seal arrests, convictions, and juvenile delinquency adjudications for most non-violent federal cannabis offenses. They'd also be required to educate recipients on the effects of their expungement(s). Some federal cannabis tax revenue would be directed to organizations that help people secure state-level cannabis expungements. The Bureau of Prisons would have 60 DAYS TO RELEASE (and vacate the convictions of) individuals serving tiem for most federal cannabis-only offenses. Individuals whose convictions don't fall under those guidelines, or whose sentences were enhanced because of prior cannabis convictions, would be able to petition the court for a reduced sentence. The feds wouldn't be able to deny people federal public assistance because of cannabis use, possession, or convictions. They also would not be able to consider cannabis a controlled substance for the purposes of immigration proceedings. Read more about the CAOA here and read recent coverage in Filter Mag and Marijuana Moment of our 420 Unity Day where we joined with advocates to talk to Sen. Schumer and other lawmakers about the CAOA and other efforts to enact cannabis justice
By Sarah Gersten 30 Apr, 2024
Rescheduling is not legalization, and the existing penalties for cannabis remain unchanged. In October of 2022, President Biden made a series of historic cannabis-related executive actions , including initiating a review by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Justice on how cannabis is scheduled under federal law. In August 2023, HHS recommended rescheduling cannabis from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule III drug and referred it to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) for final approval. Today, the DEA announced its decision to approve the HHS recommendation to reschedule cannabis to Schedule III. The proposal now goes to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), to review the rule. If approved by OMB, the proposed rescheduling would go to public comment before being finalized. This historic announcement is the culmination of years of advocacy by Last Prisoner Project (LPP) and other advocacy groups to push the federal government to better reflect the public’s view on cannabis. While the move is undoubtedly a step forward for the movement, it does not meet LPP’s goal to fully remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act and its associated criminal penalties. So then, what exactly does this schedule change mean for cannabis justice reform? While the action could result in some favorable tax and banking reform for the cannabis industry and more dedicated research for cannabis patients, there are no changes in how the criminal legal system punishes cannabis users. Rescheduling is a peripheral change that signals the reevaluation of cannabis, but not the release of cannabis prisoners or relief for those who continue to be burdened by the lasting consequences of the carceral system. In short, this announcement represents progress but not justice. Despite not achieving full legalization, we must use this historic moment to push the fight for cannabis justice forward by broadening the scope of Biden’s cannabis clemency action, working with Congress and certain administrative agencies to both provide retroactive relief and to reduce prospective cannabis criminal enforcement, and incentivizing states to provide broad retroactive relief, particularly in states that have adopted a fully legal cannabis market. Learn more about ways cannabis justice advocates can leverage this change to advance reforms in our recent memo . LPP is committed to continuing the fight for cannabis justice until everyone is fully free from the harms of the War on Drugs. This means advocating for cannabis to be fully descheduled. To ensure we keep the pressure on descheduling, retroactive relief, and full legalization, Last Prisoner Project helped organize the largest bipartisan group of cannabis advocates in Washington D.C. on April 18th, 2024 for our 420 Unity Day of Action to urge Congress and the President to take further action. Last Prisoner Project believes that complete descheduling is a necessary step towards correcting past injustices and creating a fair and equitable criminal legal system. We will continue to leverage the momentum achieved from our advocacy to ensure that individuals burdened with past cannabis convictions have their records expunged and all cannabis prisoners are released, regardless of the federal scheduling decision.
By Stephen Post 27 Apr, 2024
President Joe Biden made a statement Wednesday announcing a decision to pardon 11 people convicted of non-violent drug charges and commuted the sentences of five others. "America is a nation founded on the promise of second chances," he said . "We also recommit to building a criminal justice system that lives up to those ideals and ensures that everyone receives equal justice under law." Despite this positive use of his clemency powers, President Biden again failed to include any people still in prison at the federal level for cannabis offenses which is estimated to be at least 3,000 individuals. Even though he has provided record relief to almost 13,000 people with his expanded cannabis possession pardons, the President has failed to release a single person in prison for cannabis. Last Prisoner Project Executive Director, Sarah Gersten said, "While we are encouraged to see the President use his clemency power to commute the sentences of those incarcerated for drug offenses, we are hopeful that the administration will fulfill their promises both to use the clemency power more robustly as well as to commute the sentences of those still incarcerated for cannabis." "The Administration has made it clear that cannabis reform is a priority and one that will energize their electorate. To truly make an impact that will sway voters come November the president needs to take action to release the estimated 3,000 individuals still incarcerated for cannabis federally." We hope that President Biden recognizes that releasing people with cannabis offenses doesn't require legalization. They demand executive action. If he is looking for the next batch of candidates for clemency, we have already sent him a list of deserving individuals whose petitions are sitting with the Office of the Pardon Attorney. He simply needs to act on them. We recently rallied advocates at the White House on our 420 Unity Day of Action to demand their freedom and encourage the public to help tell Congress and the President to take further action.
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