Swordsmyth
07-31-2018, 05:09 PM
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance on Tuesday announced that his office will no longer prosecute petty pot crimes, including possession and smoking, effective August 1.
The policy is expected to reduce Manhattan marijuana prosecutions from around 5,000 per year to less than 200 - a reduction of 96%.
"Tomorrow, our Office will exit a system wherein smoking a joint can ruin your job, your college application, or your immigration status, but our advocacy will continue. I urge New York lawmakers to legalize and regulate marijuana once and for all,” reads the statement.
“The needless criminalization of pot smoking frustrates this core mission, so we are removing ourselves from the equation," Vance said in a Tuesday statement (https://www.manhattanda.org/tomorrow-d-a-vance-ends-prosecution-of-marijuana-possession-and-smoking-cases/). "Our research has found virtually no public safety rationale for the ongoing arrest and prosecution of marijuana smoking, and no moral justification for the intolerable racial disparities that underlie enforcement."
The D.A. will also "proactively" work to seal past marijuana convictions "en masse" this Fall.
Vance has based his policy in part on a public safety report which notes that "black and Hispanic individuals in neighborhoods of color continue to be arrested for marijuana offenses at much higher rates than their similarly situated counterparts in predominantly white communities."
"Such arrests can significantly impact job searches, schooling, family members, immigration status, and community involvement. Yet, sanctions imposed after arrest, fingerprinting, and court appearances are almost always minimal or non-existent. “As a result,” the Report concludes, “large numbers of New Yorkers become further alienated from law enforcement and removed from community participation at an enormous cost to the criminal justice system, for virtually no punitive, rehabilitative or deterrent purpose.”
More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-07-31/manhattan-da-will-no-longer-prosecute-smoking-or-posession-marijuana
The policy is expected to reduce Manhattan marijuana prosecutions from around 5,000 per year to less than 200 - a reduction of 96%.
"Tomorrow, our Office will exit a system wherein smoking a joint can ruin your job, your college application, or your immigration status, but our advocacy will continue. I urge New York lawmakers to legalize and regulate marijuana once and for all,” reads the statement.
“The needless criminalization of pot smoking frustrates this core mission, so we are removing ourselves from the equation," Vance said in a Tuesday statement (https://www.manhattanda.org/tomorrow-d-a-vance-ends-prosecution-of-marijuana-possession-and-smoking-cases/). "Our research has found virtually no public safety rationale for the ongoing arrest and prosecution of marijuana smoking, and no moral justification for the intolerable racial disparities that underlie enforcement."
The D.A. will also "proactively" work to seal past marijuana convictions "en masse" this Fall.
Vance has based his policy in part on a public safety report which notes that "black and Hispanic individuals in neighborhoods of color continue to be arrested for marijuana offenses at much higher rates than their similarly situated counterparts in predominantly white communities."
"Such arrests can significantly impact job searches, schooling, family members, immigration status, and community involvement. Yet, sanctions imposed after arrest, fingerprinting, and court appearances are almost always minimal or non-existent. “As a result,” the Report concludes, “large numbers of New Yorkers become further alienated from law enforcement and removed from community participation at an enormous cost to the criminal justice system, for virtually no punitive, rehabilitative or deterrent purpose.”
More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-07-31/manhattan-da-will-no-longer-prosecute-smoking-or-posession-marijuana