The issue of overcrowded jails and prisons is nothing new. Finding a solution to those problems is something law enforcement officers, the courts and lawmakers have wrestled with for years.
The U.S. Department of Justice recently slammed the Alabama prison system for a multitude of problems, including overcrowding. We pack people into prisons and county jails like sardines and then we wonder why we have so much violence inside those same jails and prisons.
Some say building newer and bigger prisons is the solution but that solution carries a huge price tag and will only alleviate the problem until those larger and more advanced prisons get filled to capacity.
The problem lawmakers face is that the majority of the people don't want to see their taxes go up to build prisons. They'll pay taxes to build schools, but prisons are a different animal. My bet is most people would like to build a simple brick and mortar buildings and feed the inmates bread and water. They'd also like to see a person convicted of capital murder immediately taken to the front lawn of the courthouse and hung rather than spend 30 years on death row.
We've watched many times as officials pass sentencing guidelines in an attempt to keep more people out of jail, but none have seemed to work.
I'm going to make a guess here without asking anybody, but my bet is more than half of the inmates currently being housed in the Escambia County Detention Center are there because of either a bond revocation or a probation violation. They aren't there because of the new crime they committed, they are there because they committed another crime while they were either out on bond or out on probation.
I see now that Jefferson County has announced it will no longer take people arrested for misdemeanor marijuana possession to jail. They will be issued a citation like a traffic ticket when charged with unlawful possession of marijuana.
I read comments from Jefferson County Sheriff Mark Pettway that makes pretty good sense. He noted when an officer makes a misdemeanor marijuana arrest and takes somebody to jail it takes that officer off the streets for several hours – hours he could be patrolling neighborhoods and watching out for convenience store clerks.
What Jefferson County is doing is really nothing new. Officers now have the discretion to issue a citation for misdemeanor marijuana possession instead of hauling someone to jail. I've talked to cops who make that call and their decision normally depends on the attitude of the suspect. But too often, they find the suspect has an outstanding failure to appear warrant so they're going to jail.
I don't have a problem with issuing citations instead of jail for misdemeanor marijuana charges, but I do have a problem with the terms 'personal use' and 'non-violent offenders'. I hear people say they are not a danger to society.
I covered a major marijuana smuggling operation in federal court in Pensacola many years ago. I heard the horror stories about people getting killed; one man whose head was cut off by an airplane propeller while trying to load a bale of marijuana destined for this area. His body was simply tossed aside and someone else had to load the bale.
So, when I hear the 'only for personal use' angle when someone is caught with an ounce of marijuana, I think of the blood trail that may have led that one ounce getting into the suspect's hands.
I've been asked several times why, when there are two people in a vehicle and both have an ounce of marijuana, one may be charged with the misdemeanor charge of unlawful possession of marijuana II and the other with a felony charge of unlawful possession of marijuana I. The reason is Alabama has a law that says on your second offense it jumps to a felony regardless of the amount.
I don't know whether we are inching closer and closer to legalizing marijuana in Alabama but the signs are there that we are – for personal use only I assume.
If Jefferson County's approach does what it's supposed to do, it's a good plan to keep first offenders out of jail and officers out on the street. They'll still get hit pretty hard in the pocketbook and I hope they understand that is their only get out of jail free card. Maybe it will get their attention.
