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Lilli
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 Posted: Fri Nov 26, 2004 7:30 am Post subject: Columbia Mo. Police Agencies Divided on Handling Pot Law |
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Police Agencies Divided on Handling Pot Law
Posted by CN Staff on November 23, 2004 at 13:31:12 PT
By Dave Moore of the Tribune’s Staff
Source: Columbia Daily Tribune
Three out of four law-enforcement agencies operating in Columbia are not following a new Columbia ordinance that directs all misdemeanor marijuana cases to Columbia Municipal Court.
Because of that, one of the proponents of Propositions 1 and 2 is looking into whether the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Boone County Sheriff’s Department and the University of Missouri-Columbia Police Department should be obligated to follow the law in city limits.
"We’re still researching the question of whether the law compels the patrol" and other police agencies "to follow the ordinance," said Dan Viets of Columbia Alliance for Patients and Education, or CAPE. He is also is a member of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. "My gut feeling is that they are subject to the city ordinance."
Viets said CAPE would likely discuss the matter informally with law-enforcement officers.
"Municipal laws vary from town to town, but we enforce the state laws," said patrol Lt. Vernon Dougan of Troop F, which includes Boone County. "We’re state officers. That’s what we’re here to do - to enforce the laws of the state."
Dougan said state highway patrol officers by law aren’t allowed to hold commissions for other law enforcement agencies. "Anything that we do has to go to state court," he said.
Sheriff Ted Boehm said, "The state only gives us authority to enforce state law. The only way we could receive the powers of enforcing the municipal ordinance was if Boone County deputies received a commission from the city to do so."
He said that doesn’t seem to be on the horizon.
MU Police Chief Jack Watring, meanwhile, hasn’t changed his department’s policy of referring first-time cases to municipal court but continues to direct subsequent cases to Boone County Prosecuting Attorney Kevin Crane’s office.
Watring said he’s doing so at Crane’s request.
Crane said his office doesn’t have a one-size-fits-all policy on enforcing the law, so it’s possible that he could refer second-time offenses back to Columbia Municipal Court if appropriate.
In addition, Crane said, second-time marijuana offense cases often receive suspended imposition of sentences in state court, which means that as long as the person completes two years’ supervision without breaking the law, he or she would not end up with a conviction.
Viets contended that Crane’s office has seldom, if ever, reached a plea agreement that included a suspended imposition of sentence.
One of the arguments CAPE cited in pressing for passage of Proposition 2 was that students could lose their scholarships or financial aid if they get a court conviction for marijuana.
"If you’ve got someone with federal student aid and they’re arrested one time, that’s one thing," Crane said. "If they get arrested kicking it twice or three or four or five times, do we want them to keep getting financial aid? I would say no."
Since the ordinance’s approval Nov. 2, 48 people have had marijuana cases deferred in Columbia Municipal Court, city prosecutor Rose Wibbenmeyer said. If those people don’t break a law within a year, they can avoid any penalty.
Source: Columbia Daily Tribune (MO)
Author: Dave Moore of the Tribune’s Staff
Published: Tuesday, November 23, 2004
Copyright: 2004 Columbia Daily Tribune
Contact: editor@tribmail.com
Website: http://www.columbiatribune.com/
Related Articles & Web Site:
NORML
http://www.norml.org/
Advisory Panel Split on Ordinances
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19807.shtml
MU Differs on Pot Law
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19806.shtml
Chief Says Pot Law Tough To Interpret
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19798.shtml |
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Others are still in the dark and need
the light to see.
"I AM"
"Gathering the fragments so that
none are lost"
His Shepherdess
http://missouri.thcministry.org/ |
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