WASHINGTON - As a senator, Jeff Sessions was such a conservative outlier on criminal justice issues that he pushed other Republicans to the forefront of his campaign to block a sentencing overhaul, figuring they would be taken more seriously. Now Mr. Sessions is attorney general and need not take a back seat to anyone when it comes to imposing his ultratough-on-crime views. The effect of his transition from being just one of 535 in Congress to being top dog at the Justice Department was underscored on Friday when he ordered federal prosecutors to make sure they threw the book at criminal defendants and pursued the toughest penalties possible. [continues 880 words]
Lawmakers Mostly Agree That Congress Needs to Take Steps. The official confirmation of Prince's death by opioid overdose is likely to reverberate in Washington, where lawmakers are still trying to hammer out a deal on legislation attempting to stem a national crisis in abuse of those drugs. "No one is immune," Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, said in a statement. Portman is one of the main authors of the Senate legislation. "The heroin and prescription drug epidemic is devastating families and communities all over the country, and we need to get this bill to the president's desk as quickly as possible," he said. [continues 520 words]
WASHINGTON - His graying hair reaches the ears, but it is considerably shorter than the near shoulder-length style Keith Stroup wore in the 1970s when he was known as Mr. Marijuana, the prime minister of pot. The founder of the nation's foremost marijuana legalization lobby has also trimmed back the reckless behavior and anti-establishment antics that turned him into a counterculture hero on college campuses and persona non grata in some quarters of Washington. But don't be misled: The 55 year-old executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws has not completely changed his ways. Stroup still gets stoned. [continues 1044 words]
