Defenders Association Welcomes Reform to Halt Abuse Under Marijuana Laws

ALBANY, NY (06/07/2012)(readMedia)-- The New York State Defenders Association (NYSDA) applauds the announcement by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, key legislators, and others, of legislation to make all possession of small amounts of marijuana, whether in public or private, a finable offense. Like the prosecutors and law enforcement officials whose support for this reform was noted in the announcement, NYSDA hopes it will help bring more fairness, consistency, and balance to the enforcement of marijuana laws.

Current law makes public possession of small amounts of marijuana a misdemeanor, while possession in private is a mere violation. Among the reasons to support a change are the recurring reports of racial disparities in enforcement of low-level marijuana offenses and allegations of police abuse of the public/private possession distinction. Officers were ordering individuals to empty their pockets, then charging them with public possession of small amounts of marijuana revealed. The Bronx Defenders issued a report on March 29, 2012, showing that out of 121 arrests analyzed, 53 people were mischarged with misdemeanors. The individuals were "accused of publicly displaying marijuana when the drug was actually inside the person's clothes when first confronted by the officer." The arrests had occurred in the Bronx between May and October 2011.

The report noted that approximately "87 percent of people arrested last year for the lowest level marijuana possession misdemeanor were either black or Latino." That same statistic appeared in an April 28, 2012 signed editorial published in the New York Times online. The editorial quoted Steven Banks, the Attorney-in-Chief of The Legal Aid Society, as to the harsh consequences of arrests for low-level marijuana offenses, and called on the Legislature to "drop the public-display distinction for marijuana, which invites far too many abuses."

Such abuses, difficult to challenge in individual criminal cases or civil litigation, have harmed too many people already and must be stopped. NYSDA welcomes reform of the marijuana laws to that end.

-30-

Related links:

http://www.bronxdefenders.org/press/data-shows-percentage-wrongful-marijuana-arrests-rose-after-kellys-order-bronx-public-defender

http://www.legal-aid.org/en/mediaandpublicinformation/inthenews/newyorktimeseditorialtellsthehumancostofzerotolerance(1).aspx