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Redwood City -- The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors will consider making a stand Tuesday in support of lighter sentences for people caught with small amounts of pot.
Supervisors are being asked to consider a resolution in favor of a bill, proposed by local state Sen. Byron Sher, D-San Mateo, that would reduce the charge for people caught with marijuana from a misdemeanor to a mere infraction -- the level of a traffic ticket.
Under current law, a person caught with one ounce or less of marijuana -- enough for about 50 joints -- is charged with a misdemeanor, though the penalty is that of a simple $100 infraction. But because it is a misdemeanor offense, defendants can fight the charges and force the county to pay for a jury trial, at the end of which the fine is still $100.
That is the logic of San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Quentin Kopp, who inspired Sher to draft the bill, known as SB 131. Kopp said it is too easy for defense attorneys to take advantage of the system by taking these cases to trial, getting paid and building experience with no risk to the client.
"If I was a lawyer, especially a young lawyer, I'd try these cases every week," he said. Sher's office has estimated SB 131 would save the state up to $4.5 million per year in trial costs.
The bill is being revived after it fell four votes shy of passing the state Assembly last September. The Assembly also defeated similar legislation in 2000 and 2001.
It is opposed by some law-enforcement groups who fear it is a step toward decriminalization of marijuana and say it would prevent small-time users from entering into treatment programs under Proposition 36.
Prop. 36, approved in 2000, diverts those convicted of misdemeanor or felony drug offenses out of incarceration and into probation and treatment programs, and clears the arrest records of those who successfully complete the program.
"As soon as you downgrade marijuana from a misdemeanor to an infraction, persons who are convicted are statutorily exempt from the treatment options of Prop. 36," said John Lovell, a lobbyist for the California Narcotics Officers' Association.
Lovell said there are simply not enough misdemeanor marijuana trials to justify the change in legislation, and even the bill's proponents cannot put a number on it.
"I think that argument is more theoretical than experimentally based," he said.
Of the 59,993 Californians arrested in 2002 for marijuana-related offenses, 47,251 were charged with misdemeanors. The number of misdemeanor arrests has more than doubled since 1991. It is unknown how many misdemeanor pot arrests actually go to trial.
Marijuana possession is one of the only misdemeanor crimes that is penalized like an infraction, according to Kopp. Usually, misdemeanors carry fines of up to $10,000.
Under SB 131, those convicted of marijuana possession would have no right to a jury trial and no criminal record. The prospect has gotten the enthusiastic support of marijuana advocates.
"Its basic idea is to reduce the cost of prosecution of petty pot offenses. It would bring it down to the level of a traffic ticket," said Dale Gieringer, spokesperson for the California chapter of the National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws.
The bill has also collected the support of the county's District Attorney's Office, responsible for prosecuting such cases.
Source: San Francisco Examiner (CA)
Author: Justin Nyberg, Staff Writer
Published: Tuesday, February 24, 2004
Copyright: 2004 San Francisco Examiner
Contact: letters@sfexaminer.com
Website: Examiner is back - Examiner.com
Supervisors are being asked to consider a resolution in favor of a bill, proposed by local state Sen. Byron Sher, D-San Mateo, that would reduce the charge for people caught with marijuana from a misdemeanor to a mere infraction -- the level of a traffic ticket.
Under current law, a person caught with one ounce or less of marijuana -- enough for about 50 joints -- is charged with a misdemeanor, though the penalty is that of a simple $100 infraction. But because it is a misdemeanor offense, defendants can fight the charges and force the county to pay for a jury trial, at the end of which the fine is still $100.
That is the logic of San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Quentin Kopp, who inspired Sher to draft the bill, known as SB 131. Kopp said it is too easy for defense attorneys to take advantage of the system by taking these cases to trial, getting paid and building experience with no risk to the client.
"If I was a lawyer, especially a young lawyer, I'd try these cases every week," he said. Sher's office has estimated SB 131 would save the state up to $4.5 million per year in trial costs.
The bill is being revived after it fell four votes shy of passing the state Assembly last September. The Assembly also defeated similar legislation in 2000 and 2001.
It is opposed by some law-enforcement groups who fear it is a step toward decriminalization of marijuana and say it would prevent small-time users from entering into treatment programs under Proposition 36.
Prop. 36, approved in 2000, diverts those convicted of misdemeanor or felony drug offenses out of incarceration and into probation and treatment programs, and clears the arrest records of those who successfully complete the program.
"As soon as you downgrade marijuana from a misdemeanor to an infraction, persons who are convicted are statutorily exempt from the treatment options of Prop. 36," said John Lovell, a lobbyist for the California Narcotics Officers' Association.
Lovell said there are simply not enough misdemeanor marijuana trials to justify the change in legislation, and even the bill's proponents cannot put a number on it.
"I think that argument is more theoretical than experimentally based," he said.
Of the 59,993 Californians arrested in 2002 for marijuana-related offenses, 47,251 were charged with misdemeanors. The number of misdemeanor arrests has more than doubled since 1991. It is unknown how many misdemeanor pot arrests actually go to trial.
Marijuana possession is one of the only misdemeanor crimes that is penalized like an infraction, according to Kopp. Usually, misdemeanors carry fines of up to $10,000.
Under SB 131, those convicted of marijuana possession would have no right to a jury trial and no criminal record. The prospect has gotten the enthusiastic support of marijuana advocates.
"Its basic idea is to reduce the cost of prosecution of petty pot offenses. It would bring it down to the level of a traffic ticket," said Dale Gieringer, spokesperson for the California chapter of the National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws.
The bill has also collected the support of the county's District Attorney's Office, responsible for prosecuting such cases.
Source: San Francisco Examiner (CA)
Author: Justin Nyberg, Staff Writer
Published: Tuesday, February 24, 2004
Copyright: 2004 San Francisco Examiner
Contact: letters@sfexaminer.com
Website: Examiner is back - Examiner.com
