Robert Downey Jr. Pardoned for ’90s Drug Conviction

Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
California Governor Jerry Brown on Thursday pardoned actor Robert Downey Jr for drug and weapon offenses from the 1990s, following a request for clemency, according to a copy of the pardon on the governor’s website.
The pardon signed by Brown said the 50-year-old Downey has obtained a court order “evidencing that since his release from custody he has lived an honest and upright life, exhibited good moral character and conducted himself as a law-abiding citizen.”
Why I became the Forward’s editor-in-chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
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