Jeff Mizanskey has been serving a life sentence for marijuana only offenses in Missouri for over two decades now. Yesterday a bi-partisan group of lawmakers in Missouri delivered 390,000 petitions to Missouri’s Governor Jay Nixon urging him to grant clemency to Jeff Mizanskey. No one should lose their freedom for marijuana, especially for the rest of their lives. Prison beds should be reserved for pedophiles, not marijuana consumers.
Missouri Representative Shamed Dogan introduced a bill in the Missouri Legislature this year which would free anyone serving a life sentence for marijuana in Missouri, which essentially would only apply to Jeff Mizanskey. But Mr. Dogan would much rather see Missouri’s Governor step up and grant clemency, which Governor Nixon can do at anytime. Per The Missouri Times:
“You won’t often hear a lawmaker say this but I actually hope my bill doesn’t pass,” Dogan said. “Because the best situation would be for Governor Nixon just to grant clemency today and make this legislative process unnecessary.”
Dogan, along with one of Mizanskey’s sons, lawyers, and several activists, printed the nearly 400,000 signatures for his clemency and walked them down to the second floor to hand deliver them to Nixon’s Capitol office.
Dan Viets, a lawyer working for the Mizanskey family, said his meetings with Nixon’s staff had been productive and that he believed the governor to be “seriously considering” the matter of clemency.
Jeff Mizanskey’s brother went on the McGraw Live show prior to the delivery of the petitions. Below is video footage of his interview on the show:
