By Phillip Smith
People — almost all of them young people of color — are being arrested at the rate of a thousand a week in New York City for marijuana possession “in public view,” but although a legislative fix was in sight this week, the state’s political establishment couldn’t come to an agreement on it. Instead, the legislature is going on vacation.
The New York City “in public view” arrests violate the spirit of the Empire State’s 1977 marijuana decriminalization law, which made possession of small amounts of marijuana a civil offense, not a criminal one. They typically occur when the NYPD stops and frisks someone, then either reaches into their pockets or belongings or intimidates the detainee into pulling out his biggie himself and then charges him with the criminal misdemeanor of possession “in public view.”
Through-out the legislative session, Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) and Senate and Assembly leaders talked about fixing the situation as part of the budget process. During his State of the State address, Cuomo had called for decriminalizing the possession of up to 15 grams “in public view,” but with smoking in public remaining a misdemeanor. But on Thursday, Cuomo and the legislative leadership announced they had reached a final deal on the budget, one that didn’t include marijuana law reform.
That doesn’t mean decriminalization reform is dead this year — the session will resume after a three-week hiatus — but it is certainly delayed and possibly derailed without having the impetus of the budget agreement behind it. In either case, legislators and community activists blasted the leadership for punting on the issue while the arrests (and the costs) mount by the day.
“I am gravely disappointed that this budget failed to enact justice for the more than 44,000 individuals arrested last year based on a flawed law. Not only does allowing these arrests directly impact the lives of individuals and their communities, they are a gross misappropriation of city and state resources, and a waste of officer manpower that can be spent on more pressing law enforcement matters,” said Assemblyman Karim Camara, Chair of the New York State Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus. “Changing this flawed law has the support of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, NYC Police Commissioner Kelly, the District Attorneys of the five boroughs, and Buffalo and Nassau and Albany counties, the Police Benevolent Association and major law enforcement agencies throughout the state. Yet politics trumped the policy that would be best for New York City and our state.”
“This is an issue that cannot wait. Our tens of thousands of youth arrested annually under unfair practices shouldn’t have to wait,” said Assemblymember Robert Rodriguez. “They deserve better — they deserve justice and equality. And they deserve it now. We need to end this policy that has plagued our communities for too long and make public view possession a violation.”
“Why is it acceptable to kick the can down the road when it comes to protecting the constitutional rights of young Black and Latino New Yorkers?” asked Alfredo Carrasquillo, civil rights community organizer for VOCAL-NY. ”Getting this done is a test for the political leadership in Albany that right now they are failing. It’s time to stop delaying justice when it comes to ending racially biased and costly marijuana arrests.”
Since 2002, nearly 500,000 thousand people have been arrested in New York for marijuana possession — the vast majority of those arrests, 440,000, took place in New York City. Last year alone in the City, there were nearly 40,000 such arrests, far exceeding the total marijuana arrests in the city between 1981 and 1995. The cost to taxpayers is $75 million a year, and over $600 million in the last decade. A report released earlier this week found that the NYPD had spent one million hours making these arrests over the past decade.
“Behind the one million police hours spent arresting young Black and Latino men is the shameful truth of 21st Century racism. These are unlawful, racially biased arrests, plain and simple. We need our elected officials to stand up for civil rights for all people” said Chino Hardin, Field Coordinator and Trainer with the Center for NuLeadership on Urban Solutions.
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