Rethinking Justice

This is a post from one of my old blogs.

Courts, like almost all areas of our society, are feeling the sturm und drang of this dead-fish economy. Crime is up, money is down, and the strain can be seen everywhere.

Maybe that's not all bad.

Courts have long been burdened with cases that they don't need to handle. Over-harsh drug laws and driving restrictions have created major distractions that the courts can no longer afford to handle.

Here are my thoughts on how to handle it:

1. Decriminalize first-time marijuana use. This writer would like to see marijuana legalized, but that's for another day. Decriminalizing first-time use is truly a practical consideration.

First-time marijuana use would come with a mandatory $500 fine and two-hour anti-drug seminar. This fine would be assessed in all cases, and, at the judge's discretion, could be paid over time. The first possession would not be a criminal offense, but would carry a finding that would make a second possession charge a misdemeanor.

This would take small-amount marijuana charges from a money-taker to a money-maker. Courts would unclog. It would give casual users a literal "get out of jail free" card, and allow those who make a single mistake to avoid being saddled with a criminal record.

2. Make marijuana cultivation and transportation into Class D Felonies. As you read this, an old hippie with a pot plant on his front porch has just been arrested somewhere. He had some good weed, man, that he wanted to grow before putting on that Dead show from Madison Square Garden in 89. He's never sold to anyone else, dude, and that's the truth.

Know what he gets charged with? The exact same crime as the toothless scumbag operating a meth lab with kids in the house; Manufacturing controlled substances. That's right: Growing a pot plant is "manufacturing" in Missouri. This is punishable by 5-15 years in prison.

Same thing is true for some poor mule carrying marijuana up I-44. If he's caught, there is no differentiation between marijuana and heroin or coke; they're all Class A felonies, and face the possibility of Life in Prison.

That's ludicrous.

If we continue to criminalize marijuana, the least we can do is differentiate between it and other drugs. How can you charge someone growing a pot plant for personal use with the same crime as a true drug dealer?

Again, this would have the effect of taking people out of prison, keeping people in prison for shorter amounts of time (a huge financial savings) and do the job our legal system is charged with: using our system of justice to keep us safe.

Even the Missouri Sentencing Advisory Committee, not exactly a bunch of potheads, indicate the benefits of community-based programs and drug courts instead of prison. That's great, when there's money to pay for it.

We are having to prioritize in every other area of our lives. We are buying smaller, less expensive cars; we are going out less. The same needs to be true for our criminal system. It is bloated, in need of care. We need to prioritize what really needs to be severely penalized.

Know how prison planners estimate an area's future prison needs? They use the percentage of current-day third graders who are behind in school. What if we could quit filling our prisons with people who could contribute to society and instead concentrate on keeping children from getting behind? What if we could even start with simply balancing the books? We're having to make changes everywhere; the justice system needs one too.