Times-Picayune Editorial piece on City Ordinance

Focus New Orleans criminal justice system's resources on violent crime: An editorial

Published: Friday, December 10, 2010, 6:22 AM

Editorial page staff, The Times-Picayune 

 

Arresting people who've committed minor, nonviolent offenses and taking them to jail isn't the smartest use of police time or the best way to ensure public safety.

New Orleans has been moving away from that approach, by adopting an ordinance two years ago that allows police to issue summonses for petty municipal offenses. The Police Department now issues summonses for slightly more than half of municipal offenses that don't involve domestic violence.

Superintendent Ronal Serpas recently said that officers will no longer arrest and book people they stop who have outstanding traffic or misdemeanor warrants from neighboring parishes, saying the old policy "simply does not make sense, economical or common." That could mean a reduction of nearly 20,000 arrests in 2011.

Next week, the City Council will consider ordinances that would allow police to issue a summons in other nonviolent misdemeanors, and those changes should be adopted.

The ordinances would allow police to issue summonses for marijuana possession, prostitution, flight from an officer and interference with a law-enforcement investigation. As it stands now, police have to make arrests in those cases because there is no municipal code counterpart for state violations. This would give them the option of writing a summons for a court appearance, instead.

Creating a municipal version of the marijuana possession charge will have the added benefit of allowing those charges to be prosecuted by the city attorney rather than prosecutors from the district attorney's office.

Officials also are looking at ways to reduce the number of people who are jailed for public intoxication, creating a "sobering center'' where they can sleep it off rather than doing so in a jail cell.

Other cities have had success with sobering centers, and it certainly makes sense for New Orleans. Police officers make arrests in 88 percent of public intoxication cases because drunk people present a danger to themselves and others. Judge Paul Sens, chief judge of Municipal Court, stressed that if there are problems beyond drunkenness, jail is still the right choice.

But this option would further reduce the number of people taken to jail and also would provide a way for people who need help with alcohol abuse to start getting it.

Councilwoman Susan Guidry, who is on the council's criminal justice committee, said that jailing fewer nonviolent offenders will save money. "To quote the superintendent, 'It's not being soft on crime, it's being smart on crime','' she said.

She's right. Police need to spend most of their time and energy on violent crime, not hauling petty offenders off to jail.

© 2010 NOLA.com. All rights reserved.

http://www.nola.com/opinions/index.ssf/2010/12/focus_new_orleans_criminal_jus.html

Municipal Code Sec. 54-XX. - Simple possession of marijuana and/or synthetic cannabinoids.

"(a) It is unlawful for any person knowingly or intentionally to possess marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol or chemical derivatives thereof, or synthetic cannabinoids, controlled dangerous substances as defined in La. R.S. 40:964, Schedule I, unless such substance was obtained directly, or pursuant to a valid prescription or order, from a practitioner or as provided in La. R.S. 40:978, while acting in the course of his professional practice, or except as otherwise authorized by law.

(b) Upon conviction for violation of subsection (a) of this Section with regard to marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol or chemical derivatives thereof, or synthetic cannabinoids, the offender shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars, or imprisoned for not more than six months, or both."

This is the exact wording of the new municipal order that is being voted upon on Dec. 16th.  This would take simple marijuana possession from a state level offense to a city level offense, giving the officer discretion as to whether or not to arrest you, or simply give you a municipal court summons (like a traffic ticket).  This is a HUGE step forward for not only Louisiana legislation, but New Orleans especially. Get in contact with the N.O. city council, let them hear our support, and we CAN make this pass.

Cannabis Rally - Support for New Orleans Criminal Justice System Reforms

Hey!

Tomorrow: Monday, December 13, 2010 at 9:00 AM

City Hall, 1300 Perdido St, New Orleans

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NORML Tulane will be outside New Orleans City Hall handing out coffee thanking city council for working with the New Orleans Police Department, Orleans Parish Police Department, and other New Orleans organizations to create new legislation in the city of New Orleans which change simple marijuana possession, along with three other misdemeanors, to a city level offense giving officers the discretion to issue a summons rather than to arrest.  

This is being done in a large part to ease the clogging of the New Orleans jails and to expedite the legal process.  Instead of waiting potentially up to 10 days in jail before having an opportunity to be heard before state court, where in many of theses cases defendants plead guilty and take a simple fine,  the new legislation would take theses cases out of state court into municipal court, where many cases would be seen by the next day. 

In trying to gauge the impact this new legislation will have note that currently 61% of summonable offenses in New Orleans are receiving summons and 73% of Louisiana state misdemeanors are for first time simple marijuana possession.*

Come and join us at 9 AM to support the passage of this legislation and to support smart policy!

Check out the Facebook event too:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=112608928807625




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* Information obtained from VERA institute: http://www.vera.org/project/new-orleans-project