Oregon 1st to decriminalize small amount of illegal drugs
Police in Oregon can no longer arrest someone for possession of small amounts of heroin, methamphetamine, LSD, oxycodone and other drugs as a ballot measure that decriminalized them took effect on Monday.
Instead, those found in possession would face a $100 fine or a health assessment that could lead to addiction counseling. Backers of the ballot measure, which Oregon voters passed by a wide margin in November, hailed it as a revolutionary move for the United States.
Ballot Measure 110’s backers said treatment needs to be the priority and that criminalizing drug possession was not working. Besides facing the prospect of being locked up, having a criminal record makes it difficult to find housing and jobs.
Biden challenges immigration cases
The Biden administration on Monday asked the Supreme Court to cancel upcoming arguments on two cases important to former President Donald Trump: a funding dispute over the border wall and a policy requiring asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their claims are considered.
Acting Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar told the court that Mr. Biden has stopped construction of the wall and announced a review of the asylum program, called the Migrant Protection Protocols. Until those reviews are completed, she said, the court should suspend consideration of the lawsuits.
The border wall case, now called Biden v. Sierra Club, is scheduled for argument Feb. 22. The immigration case, now called Pekoske v. Innovation Law Lab, is scheduled for March 1.
More protests called for Navalny’s release
Moscow braced for more protests seeking the release of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who faces a court hearing Tuesday after two weekends of nationwide rallies and thousands of arrests in the largest outpouring of discontent in Russia in years.
Tens of thousands filled the streets across the vast country Sunday, chanting slogans against President Vladimir Putin and demanding freedom for Mr. Navalny, who was jailed last month and faces years in prison. Over 5,400 protesters were detained by authorities, according to a human rights group.
While state-run media dismissed the demonstrations as small and claimed that they showed the failure of the opposition, Mr. Navalny’s team said the turnout demonstrated “overwhelming nationwide support” for the Kremlin’s fiercest critic.
Mitch McConnell calls Greene ideas a ‘cancer’
Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell denounced newly elected Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Monday, calling the far-right Georgia Republican’s embrace of conspiracy theories and “loony lies” a “cancer for the Republican Party.”
“Somebody who’s suggested that perhaps no airplane hit the Pentagon on 9/ 11, that horrifying school shootings were pre-staged, and that the Clintons crashed JFK Jr.’s airplane is not living in reality,” said Mr. McConnell, R-Ky. “This has nothing to do with the challenges facing American families or the robust debates on substance that can strengthen our party.”
The statement comes as House Democrats are mounting an effort to formally rebuke Ms. Greene, who has a history of making racist remarks, embracing conspiracy theories and endorsing violence directed at Democrats.