Alternet: Too Little, Too Late: Commissioner Kelly Tells NYPD to End Stop-and-Frisks

[markpkessinger]

Too Little, Too Late: Commissioner Kelly Tells NYPD to End Stop-and-Frisks That Led to Thousands of Bogus Marijuana Arrests

After a decade of unjust marijuana arrests, Raymond Kelly has finally issued a memo to New York City police, ordering them to end the illegal stop-and-frisk procedures that resulted in the arrests of so many young black and Latino youths.

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The stop-and-frisks that helped generate the astounding 536,000 marijuana arrests between 1979 and 2010 violate the intent of the law in two ways. First, stop-and-frisks are legal only to find and confiscate guns. Second, possession of small amounts of marijuana is decriminalized in New York.

But when officers sweep poor neighborhoods to stop-and-frisk colored youths, they often demand kids empty their pockets, or pull the contents out themselves. If weed had been inside, police arrest them for marijuana "in public view," which is not decriminalized, and the consequences of which bar arrestees from receiving federal loans and housing, as well as finding careers. This is all despite the fact that the weed wasn't "in public view" until the cops put it there. Kelly clarified the standards for this type of arrest in the memo.

The Drug Policy Alliance, VOCAL-NY, and The Institute for Juvenile Justice Reform led the fight to stop the racially biased, damaging arrests. According to data from the Drug Policy Alliance, marijuana arrests cost New York City $75 million a year. What's worse, 86% of those arrested are blacks and Latinos, many of whom are from poor neighborhoods. National data, however, shows that whites use marijuana at much higher rates.

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Read full article at: http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/670830/too_little%2C_too_late%3A_commissioner_kelly_tells_nypd_to_end_stop-and-frisks_that_led_to_thousands_of_bogus_marijuana_arrests/

[The Backlash Cometh]

1. No Anglo-American suburb would tolerate this level of scrutiny.

[sabrina 1]

2. Kudos to those groups who fought to end this unconstitutional practice.

What's worse, 86% of those arrested are blacks and Latinos

For those who spent time in jail, it is too late, but better late than never. The faux 'Drug War' like all the other faux wars we are engaged in, needs to end.