Pubdate: Tue, 15 May 2018
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2018 The New York Times Company
Website: http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Author: Benjamin Mueller

MARIJUANA POLICY CHANGE IS SAID TO BE CONSIDERED

The district attorneys in Manhattan and Brooklyn are weighing plans to
stop prosecuting the vast majority of people arrested on marijuana
charges, potentially curbing the consequences of a law that in New
York City is enforced most heavily against black and Hispanic people.

The Brooklyn district attorney's office, which in 2014 decided to stop
prosecuting many low-level marijuana cases, is considering expanding
its policy so that more people currently subject to arrest on
marijuana charges, including those who smoke outside without creating
a public nuisance, would not be prosecuted, one official familiar with
the discussions said.

The Manhattan district attorney's office, which last year decided to
lighten penalties for some marijuana offenders, would join its
counterparts in Brooklyn and decline to prosecute the vast majority of
low-level marijuana cases under the plan, with some exceptions for
people with serious criminal histories, a second official said.

Those changes, if put into practice, would amount to a forceful
disavowal by two high-profile prosecutors' offices of criminal
penalties for an offense that has been taken off the books in some
states and that in New York City is enforced overwhelmingly against
black and Hispanic people. The discussions have been prompted in part
by concerns among prosecutors about the continuing racial gap in
marijuana arrests.

Through their press aides, the Brooklyn district attorney, Eric
Gonzalez, and the Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr.,
declined to speak publicly about policy discussions still underway.

The Brooklyn district attorney's office has been experimenting for
several weeks with declining to prosecute some cases of people who
were arrested for smoking in public, the first official said. And
since the fall, prosecutors in Manhattan have been studying
jurisdictions that have legalized marijuana, the second official said.

Of the more than 5,000 people arrested on low-level marijuana charges
in Manhattan last year, only 100 to 200 would have been prosecuted
under the plan being considered, the second official said. Prosecutors
there have been working on the plan in coordination with the Police
Department and City Hall, the official said.

It is unclear whether prosecutors in the other boroughs are
considering any similar measures, or how the Police Department would
respond.

But the New York City police commissioner, James P. O'Neill, hinted on
Monday that he was already re-evaluating some marijuana arrests. He
said at a City Council hearing that the way the department was
enforcing marijuana laws was sometimes at odds with the city's
objectives, noting that more than a third of the people arrested on
low-level marijuana charges last year had no previous criminal record.

And Mayor Bill de Blasio pledged to consider policy changes that would
cut down on marijuana arrests and to address an enforcement strategy
that has resulted in black people being arrested on marijuana charges
in New York City at eight times the rate of white people over the last
three years.

"If the disparity continues, it's not acceptable," Mr. de Blasio said
in an interview on Monday with Spectrum News NY1. "We've got to look
at the whole realm of policy options."

They were responding to the publication on Sunday of an article in The
New York Times documenting the enormous racial gap in marijuana
enforcement.

A senior police official had said in February that the reason for the
racial gap was that more residents in predominantly black and Hispanic
neighborhoods were calling to complain about marijuana. But the Times
article showed that among neighborhoods where people called about
marijuana at the same rate, the police almost always made arrests at a
higher rate in the area with more black residents.

The comments by the mayor and the police commissioner fell short of
showing any evidence the city had until now tried to address a racial
disparity in marijuana enforcement that has persisted throughout Mr.
de Blasio's administration and for decades before. But they were the
clearest signal yet from the city, as other states open marijuana
dispensaries and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo moves closer to endorsing
legalization, that they were considering changes.

The police commissioner, James P. O'Neill, told members of the City
Council that 36 percent of the people arrested on marijuana charges
last year had no criminal history.

"That's not what I'm looking for," Mr. O'Neill said, adding, "I
acknowledge this does not help us reduce crime."

Under the plan being considered by Mr. Gonzalez in Brooklyn, the
office would also stop prosecuting some people who are currently being
prosecuted because they have a criminal record from many years
earlier, one of the officials said. The plan still offers exceptions:
People with a recent criminal record or who smoke in a way that
creates a public nuisance would be prosecuted.

Under the plan being considered in Manhattan, people with a serious
criminal record would still be prosecuted, the official said. But the
plan would end prosecutions of people who under current policies in
Manhattan generally have their cases dismissed after three months or
six months.

In Mr. O'Neill's testimony on Monday, he said the police still needed
to answer complaints from residents and business owners about people
smoking marijuana outside. And he dismissed the notion that the
arrests were "racially motivated."

But after the department and the mayor had for weeks defended the
marijuana arrests, Mr. O'Neill struck a different tone. He said he did
not know why the racial gap persisted, and said the department was
studying whether it had to do with sending more officers to patrol in
some neighborhoods than others.

As part of the department's weekly CompStat meetings about crime
conditions, Mr. O'Neill said senior police officials sometimes asked
commanders to explain low-level marijuana arrests in their precinct,
particularly when officers were arresting people who had no previous
criminal record.

And Mayor Bill de Blasio pledged to consider policy changes that would
cut down on marijuana arrests and to address an enforcement strategy
that has resulted in black people being arrested on marijuana charges
in New York City at eight times the rate of white people over the last
three years.

"If the disparity continues, it's not acceptable," Mr. de Blasio said
in an interview on Monday with Spectrum News NY1. "We've got to look
at the whole realm of policy options."

They were responding to the publication on Sunday of an article in The
New York Times documenting the enormous racial gap in marijuana
enforcement.

A senior police official had said in February that the reason for the
racial gap was that more residents in predominantly black and Hispanic
neighborhoods were calling to complain about marijuana. But the Times
article showed that among neighborhoods where people called about
marijuana at the same rate, the police almost always made arrests at a
higher rate in the area with more black residents.

The comments by the mayor and the police commissioner fell short of
showing any evidence the city had until now tried to address a racial
disparity in marijuana enforcement that has persisted throughout Mr.
de Blasio's administration and for decades before. But they were the
clearest signal yet from the city, as other states open marijuana
dispensaries and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo moves closer to endorsing
legalization, that they were considering changes.

The police commissioner, James P. O'Neill, told members of the City
Council that 36 percent of the people arrested on marijuana charges
last year had no criminal history.

"That's not what I'm looking for," Mr. O'Neill said, adding, "I
acknowledge this does not help us reduce crime."

Under the plan being considered by Mr. Gonzalez in Brooklyn, the
office would also stop prosecuting some people who are currently being
prosecuted because they have a criminal record from many years
earlier, one of the officials said. The plan still offers exceptions:
People with a recent criminal record or who smoke in a way that
creates a public nuisance would be prosecuted.

Under the plan being considered in Manhattan, people with a serious
criminal record would still be prosecuted, the official said. But the
plan would end prosecutions of people who under current policies in
Manhattan generally have their cases dismissed after three months or
six months.

In Mr. O'Neill's testimony on Monday, he said the police still needed
to answer complaints from residents and business owners about people
smoking marijuana outside. And he dismissed the notion that the
arrests were "racially motivated."

But after the department and the mayor had for weeks defended the
marijuana arrests, Mr. O'Neill struck a different tone. He said he did
not know why the racial gap persisted, and said the department was
studying whether it had to do with sending more officers to patrol in
some neighborhoods than others.

As part of the department's weekly CompStat meetings about crime
conditions, Mr. O'Neill said senior police officials sometimes asked
commanders to explain low-level marijuana arrests in their precinct,
particularly when officers were arresting people who had no previous
criminal record.

Members of the City Council questioned how the department had failed
to rein in police precincts that arrested hundreds of people annually
on marijuana charges despite not getting an unusually high number of
complaints.

Rory Lancman, Democrat of Queens, pointed to the 105th Precinct, which
covers Queens Village. The Times showed the marijuana arrest rate
there is more than 10 times as high as in the precinct that serves
Forest Hills, Queens, despite both getting marijuana complaints at the
same rate. The 105th Precinct is just over half black, while the one
covering Forest Hills has few black residents.

"If that's not setting off alarm bells, then someone's not paying
attention," Mr. Lancman said. He added in an email, "They're chasing a
rationale for the very simple but uncomfortable reality that our
criminal justice system unfairly impacts people of color, and they
haven't done anything to fix it."

Mayor de Blasio said in late 2014 that the police would largely give
summonses instead of making arrests for carrying personal marijuana,
and reserve arrests mainly for smoking in public. Since then, the
police have arrested 17,500 people for marijuana possession on average
a year, down from about 26,000 people in 2014, and issued thousands of
additional summonses. About 87 percent of those arrested in recent
years have been black or Hispanic, a proportion that has remained
roughly the same for decades.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Matt