marijuana arrests
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Black Man Serving Life Sentence for $20 Marijuana Sale Released From Prison
A Black man in Louisiana who was serving a life sentence over two bags of weed worth only $20 has finally been freed from prison after 12 years. I didn’t need any further proof that the American justice system is far from just, but a life sentence? For what may have barely been an eighth?…
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Black Veteran Sentenced to Life in Prison Over $30 Marijuana Sale Set to Be Freed
In Louisiana, a Black veteran currently serving life without parole over a $30 weed sale is set to be released. On Thursday, prosecutors in Vermilion Parish, La., agreed to release Derek Harris, who has served nine years in prison, KATC reports. Harris was arrested in 2008 for selling less than a gram of marijuana to…
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Black People Are Still Disproportionately Arrested for Marijuana Possession in California Despite Legalization
There was hope that when states like California voted to legalize marijuana, it would correlate with a reduction in marijuana related arrests for Black people. In Los Angeles, the opposite has proven to be true due to both a lack of access to legal means and red tape making it harder for Black entrepreneurs to…
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Strangers Chip In When Oklahoma Mom Who Got 12 Years for Selling $30 Worth of Weed Is Tossed in Jail Again When She Can’t Pay Court Fees
Years after an Oklahoma mom was released from prison after being handed a 12-year sentence for making $30 in weed sales, she landed in jail again for not paying court costs related to the case. Luckily for Patricia Spottedcrow, strangers learning of her plight chipped in to pay the $1,139.90 in court costs she still…
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Prosecutor Kim Foxx to Expunge Marijuana Convictions in Chicago
It’s not exactly a secret that black folks are disproportionately affected by marijuana convictions. But Chicago prosecutor Kim Foxx has big plans to right an egregious wrong. The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Foxx has big plans to erase the pot-related charges of thousands of Chicago residents. Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx said she is…
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70 Party Guests Were Arrested for Less Than an Ounce of Marijuana. Now, They're Suing
Members of the “the Cartersville 70”—the dozens of young people who were arrested at a 2017 house party in Cartervsille, Ga., for what turned out to be less than an ounce of marijuana—are filing a suit against city officials, claiming the search and mass arrest violated their constitutional rights. No charges were pressed against the…
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NYPD Tried to Blame High Marijuana Arrest Rates for Black People on Higher Call Rates. Here’s Why That Doesn’t Add Up
The New York City Police Department has recently attempted to explain its disproportionate arrest rates of black and Hispanic people on weed charges by saying that more residents in majority-black and -Hispanic neighborhoods call the cops to complain about weed. If that explanation doesn’t pass the smell test to you, then you’re not the only…
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Even in White Neighborhoods, Black People Get Arrested More for Marijuana
File this under “Yeah, We Knew That Already, but Thanks for the Confirmation”: An analysis of police data shows that blacks and Hispanics make up the majority of arrests for marijuana possession—even in areas where the population is mostly white or other ethnic groups. WNYC conducted the analysis, and its findings were confirmed by retired…