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Senators Are Angry That Marijuana Sentences Are Longer Than Paul Manafort’s

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Repeatedly defraud financial institutions and the government? Get 47 months in prison.

Illegally possess marijuana in a prohibition state? That’s a 12-year sentence, pal.

A lot of people, including U.S. senators, are picking up on this ludicrous sentencing disparity on full display in a case involving Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort. The former lobbyist was convicted of over a dozen financial fraud charges. While prosecutors recommended that he serve roughly 20 years, a judge decided on Thursday that was too harsh a sentence.

The decision immediately inspired a slew of tweets, with many giving examples of cases where non-violent cannabis offenses have put people in prison for much longer. One post, about the aforementioned 12-year sentence for simple possession, already has more than 10,000 retweets.

But it’s not just activists who are taking note of the criminal justice imbalance. Sens. Brian Schatz (D-HI), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Kamala Harris (D-CA) and Angus King (I-ME) have also raised the issue.

Warren tweeted about Fate Winslow, who is facing a life sentence for distributing $20 worth of marijuana.

Harris, who, like Warren, is currently seeking the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, compared Manafort’s prison term to marijuana sentencing in a campaign stop in South Carolina.

“We’re going to be flooded with stories in the next 24 hours about people with relatively minor offenses, selling an ounce of marijuana or stealing quarters from a laundry room with equivalent or greater sentences,” King told CNN on Friday.

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) also chimed in.

So did Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY).

Elsewhere on Twitter, there was no shortage of outrage over the apparent judicial disconnect between sentences for white collar crimes and cannabis. Comedian and director Zack Bornstein joked that even his 4-year-old recognized the injustice.

Here are some more examples, in case the message hasn’t sunk in yet.

You probably get the idea by now, but you can sift through dozens more here.

Watch Cory Booker Discuss His Latest Bill To End Federal Marijuana Prohibition

Photo courtesy of Disney.

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Kyle Jaeger is Marijuana Moment's Sacramento-based managing editor. His work has also appeared in High Times, VICE and attn.

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