Our Newport Beach narcotics criminal defense attorneys were very pleased to see a positive move by the state for nonviolent drug offenders. As the East Bay Express reported Jan. 12, new Gov. Jerry Brown's proposed budget would keep criminal defendants out of prison if their offenses were first offenses, nonviolent, not serious and not sex crimes. That's a category that includes numerous low-level drugs and narcotics crimes, as well as offenses like shoplifting and writing bad checks. The governor's office estimates saving the state $500 million a year in prison costs this way. The Drug Policy Alliance estimates that 10,000 people are in California prisons for drug possession.
The prison proposal is part of the proposal to "realign" state services by passing responsibility for them on to counties. Drug defendants and other nonviolent offenders would not necessarily go free, but would likely serve time in county jail or probation, including Drug Court. The Drug Policy Alliance backs the prison part of the budget, the article said, because it would reduce the number of people who go to prison for relatively minor offenses. The people imprisoned for drug offenses include 17,000 who were accused of selling or growing marijuana. They also include parolees, who can be arrested and sent to prison for drug crimes as minor as smoking marijuana. Even though possession of small amounts of marijuana is now an infraction, any parole violation can send the person to prison for the underlying offense.
This is great news for Chino drug crimes criminal defense lawyers like us, and of course for our clients as well. As the article notes, California incarcerates thousands of people a year for nonviolent drug crimes. In addition to wasting money, as the budget implicitly points out, this is a huge waste of the lives of all of those people. Putting drug defendants in prison was politically popular in the 1980s, because it allowed politicians to appear "tough on crime" when they were seeking higher office. In practice, however, it has been toughest on the prisoners and their loved ones, without making an appreciable dent in drug use. Offenders not imprisoned under this policy will still have to complete probation, Drug Court or jail time -- but typically at a much lower financial and human cost.
If you're accused of a drug crime in California, don't wait to call Howard Law, P.C.. As the article says, even a nonviolent offense like cultivating marijuana can carry up to four years in state prison. Thanks to the War on Drugs, some people -- including police and prosecutors -- are still convinced that all drug crimes are a dangerous threat to society, and criminal penalties often reflect that. Sometimes, however, officers eager to make a "drug bust" cut corners or violate defendants' civil rights in order to make the arrest. Our Los Angeles County drug criminal defense attorneys look for these and other types of police overreaching or assumptions when we take drug cases. Whether it's an acquittal in court or alternative penalties, we work to get clients the best possible outcomes to their cases.
Howard Law, P.C. offers free, confidential consultations, where you can learn about your legal options at no further obligation. To set up a meeting, call us today at 1-800-872-5925 or send us an email.
