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Manhattan DA's office drops more than 3,000 open marijuana cases

reuters.com

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Re: Manhattan DA's office drops more than 3,000 open marijuana cases

#31

Post by caymanjim »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #2

Will the DA’s office work to overturn previous convictions people are currently serving time for? Not meant to undermine this incredibly progressive action.

That would be a far greater thing. It's good that they're dropping open cases, and good that the city is deprioritizing marijuana offenses in general, and administratively declaring that further charges for minor possession shouldn't be filed.

It's barely scratching the surface of justice reform, however. The laws still remain on the books; they're just selectively choosing not to enforce them at the moment. More importantly, they're doing nothing to reverse the thousands (possibly millions) of prior convictions.

This is rewarding the people who skipped out on facing prosecution. It's a pragmatic move, and a tiny step in the right direction, but the people most hurt by these insane laws are the ones who did the right thing, faced their charges, and are now sitting in jail or had their lives damaged in ways small and large. They deserve relief far more than the people who managed to avoid getting convicted in the first place.

Re: Manhattan DA's office drops more than 3,000 open marijuana cases

#33

Post by true_religion »

everdev wrote: post #30
kevmo wrote: post #25

This is likely stemming at least in part from Cynthia Nixon's strong run for the Democratic nomination for governor of New York. She is running to the left of the current governor, Andrew Cuomo (Mario Cuomo's son), and has been making these sorts of outdated drug charges an issue.

I think the majority like the idea but surprised there isn't a financial effort from the prison and associated industries to fight the idea. If it works though, it's a huge win for getting minor offenders out of concrete cages.

Goverment officials can just ignore financial efforts of private companies, when their reelection campaign is not dependent on that money. If by fighting a private company, you make voters happy then those votes directly gotten can be worth more than any votes that added campaign funds would possibly give.

Re: Manhattan DA's office drops more than 3,000 open marijuana cases

#34

Post by smhost »

everdev wrote: post #30
kevmo wrote: post #25

This is likely stemming at least in part from Cynthia Nixon's strong run for the Democratic nomination for governor of New York. She is running to the left of the current governor, Andrew Cuomo (Mario Cuomo's son), and has been making these sorts of outdated drug charges an issue.

I think the majority like the idea but surprised there isn't a financial effort from the prison and associated industries to fight the idea. If it works though, it's a huge win for getting minor offenders out of concrete cages.

dems probably "asked" them on behalf of cuomo not to fight it

Re: Manhattan DA's office drops more than 3,000 open marijuana cases

#35

Post by CPLX »

kevmo wrote: post #25

This is likely stemming at least in part from Cynthia Nixon's strong run for the Democratic nomination for governor of New York. She is running to the left of the current governor, Andrew Cuomo (Mario Cuomo's son), and has been making these sorts of outdated drug charges an issue.

That’s not a really accurate read of how NY/NYC politics works. Manhattan DA’s office is more symbiotic with the mayor, and hasn’t traditionally been really defined in relationship to Albany. With that said the general progressive climate is certainly relevant, ranging from Nixon to Ocasio to Teachout.

Re: Manhattan DA's office drops more than 3,000 open marijuana cases

#36

Post by danharaj »

mancerayder wrote: post #28
chimeracoder wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> People are so incredibly desperate to attribute things to people who haven't really done anything. I hate Cuomo too, but I'm not going to descend into nonsense peddling in order to fight him. It only serves to undermine any actual effort of resistance to the man. The New York State political machine is incredibly corrupt and interconnected. And Cuomo himself is more powerful and influential at all levels of state g…

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof.

These aren't extraordinary claims by any means. Historically New York politics have been exceptionally corrupt.

Re: Manhattan DA's office drops more than 3,000 open marijuana cases

#37

Post by will_brown »

kibwen wrote: post #6

I applaud the move. Curious that these cases stretch as far back as 1978, isn't there a statute of limitations for this sort of charge? If so, I would have expected the oldest to have been closed automatically decades ago.

If you notice the article refers only to cases where there are warrants. So odds are someone who was arrested in 1972 for marijuana bonded out and never appeared for court. The court issues a warrant for failure to appear and the case is essentially suspended until the warrant is served and defendant brought before the court.

These kinds of things occurred from time to time in large waves like this. It’s usually a win for all parties, DA/prosecutors clear cases, judges get old cases off their docks, Police close these old warrants, some politician somewhere takes credit...the real irony some of these defendants will never know the difference.

Re: Manhattan DA's office drops more than 3,000 open marijuana cases

#38

Post by forapurpose »

true_religion wrote: post #33
everdev wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the majority like the idea but surprised there isn't a financial effort from the prison and associated industries to fight the idea. If it works though, it's a huge win for getting minor offenders out of concrete cages.

Goverment officials can just ignore financial efforts of private companies, when their reelection campaign is not dependent on that money. If by fighting a private company, you make voters happy then those votes directly gotten can be worth more than any votes that added campaign funds would possibly give.

> Goverment officials can just ignore financial efforts of private companies, when their reelection campaign is not dependent on that money.

I'm not sure what you mean. Isn't the whole problem that winning elections is heavily dependent on money?

Re: Manhattan DA's office drops more than 3,000 open marijuana cases

#39

Post by digianarchist »

kevmo wrote: post #25

This is likely stemming at least in part from Cynthia Nixon's strong run for the Democratic nomination for governor of New York. She is running to the left of the current governor, Andrew Cuomo (Mario Cuomo's son), and has been making these sorts of outdated drug charges an issue.

Cuomo's polling numbers are up today but even last week he was 40 points ahead.

She hasn't got a snowball's chance in hell of winning this primary.

Re: Manhattan DA's office drops more than 3,000 open marijuana cases

#40

Post by Jgrubb »

_jal wrote: post #18
Jgrubb wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> this incredibly progressive action ..that never would've happened if Cuomo didn't feel real heat from Cynthia Nixon.

Are you asserting Cuomo had some influence on the Manhattan DA's decision? Can you point to a reference?

No I can't. You're probably right and it's a complete coincidence this is happening the day before the primary.
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