In 1998, then President Bill Clinton, who as I wrote yesterday, was no friend to the criminal defendant, signed legislation banning federal student aid to those who convicted of a non-violent drug offense, including possession of marijuana.

In the Ebeneezer Cheney budget bill approved by the Senate yesterday, there is one laudatory feature. NORML reports:

The US Senate voted 51 to 50 yesterday in favor of legislation that would lift the ban on federal aid to students who have a prior, non-violent drug conviction. The Congressional ban, known as the "drug offender exclusionary provision" of the Higher Education Act, has denied federal financial aid to some 175,000 students since its enactment in 1998.

Under the Senate provision, which was included in Senate Bill 1932 (the budget reconciliation bill), students with past drug convictions will now be eligible to apply for federal financial aid. However, students who are convicted of a nonviolent drug offense, including minor marijuana possession, while in college will continue to be stripped of their federal aid eligibility. President Bush is anticipated to approve the amendment, which would take effect in 2006.