[DiscoBiscuit]

Cuomo Targets Stop-And-Frisk, Seeks To Lower Number Of Low-Level Marijuana Arrests

Posted: 06/04/2012 9:40 am Updated: 06/04/2012 1:28 pm

Entering the debate over NYPD stop-and-frisks, Governor Andrew Cuomo is proposing legislation that would decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana in public view.

The Governor plans to meet with state lawmakers Monday, The New York Times reports, in an attempt to amend a state law that was the basis for the arrest of over 50,000 people in New York City last year, most of whom were black or Latino.

Under the current law, possession of 25 grams or less of marijuana shouldn't result in arrest unless it's "burning or in public view." The NYPD, however, will often ask the hundreds of thousands they stop on the streets to empty their pockets, and when the marijuana comes out of the pocket, it becomes "in public view," and they can make an arrest.

There are more arrests for low-level marijuana offenses than any other crime in New York City. According to the Associated Press, marijuana arrests in New York account for one out of every seven cases in the city's criminal courts. In 2010, the city spent $75 million to put pot-smokers behind bars.

In September, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly issued a memo, telling city cops, "A crime will not be charged to an individual who is requested or compelled to engage in the behavior that results in the public display of marijuana." The Times reports, however, that the effect of Kelly's order on the number of marijuana arrests has been minimal.

"This proposal will bring long overdue consistency and fairness to New York State's Penal Law and save thousands of New Yorkers, particularly minority youth, from the unnecessary and life-altering trauma of a criminal arrest, and, in some cases, prosecution," a Cuomo official told The Times.

Mayor Bloomberg disagrees with Cuomo's position on marijuana arrests. The Mayor's argued before that the arrests deter other, more serious crimes.

UPDATE: Mayor Michael Bloomberg has come out in support of Governor Cuomo's plan. Bloomberg said Cuomo's plan "strikes the right balance," by allowing cops to still arrest those who are smoking in public. “We look forward to working with legislative leaders to help pass a bill before the end of session,” the mayor said in a statement. Ray Kelly will attend Cuomo's press conference Monday in a show of support of the bill.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...l?ref=new-york

Cuomo's approval exceeds 70% in New York state. The guy has presidential aspirations so it's good to see him call out this stupid tactic that's been credited with crime reduction since Rudy was mayor.

Bloomberg got an assload of fallout from the sugary drink idea. He's probably erring on the side of caution. Poor guy couldn't buy the governor's popularity.

I enjoyed my time in new york

[DiscoBiscuit]

I might visit now.

[Stoner4Life]

Originally Posted by DiscoBiscuit

I might visit now.

the pizza's so friggin' good I'd take a pinch for weed just to be there.......

[AOD2012]

I am really happy to see Cuomo taking the steps necessary. He has been putting his foot down on a lot of the political bullshit that has fucking ruined this state for so long. I watched the press conference, and it was pretty cool seeing him flat out say that having a weed conviction as a youth is not worth the negative effects that it will have on a person later in life.

Pretty happy about this one, I am hopeful it goes through. It was kind of crazy, on a few of the local news stations around here, they were interviewing people from my area asking what they thought, and almost all of the senior age people interviewed thought it was a great idea, and that there was so much else going on in the world, a little bit of weed should be our last worry. On the other hand, a lot of the people whom I would guess we between 30-45 were saying how it is a bad idea and how weed is a gateway drug and is illegal for reason. Guessing those are the people that grew up during the Reagan years.


KEep it green everybody.



aod

[festivus]

Very cool! This was one of the top stories on CNN yesterday. He's proposing legalizing up to 24 grams for personal... wonder why not 28 grams? Guess they want the limit to be less than a oz.

[Snoopster]

The stop and frisk tactics used by NY police are disgusting. NY politicians should be ashamed of themselves for this BS and it should have never happened.

[DiscoBiscuit]

Originally Posted by Snoopster

The stop and frisk tactics used by NY police are disgusting. NY politicians should be ashamed of themselves for this BS and it should have never happened.

This guy appears to advocate more stop and frisk, but only on the idea that New Yorkers are too scared to give it up. Then he goes on to mock the whole idea. Not sure what the actual message is.

Reforming Stop-and-Frisk by Adding More Stops

By CLYDE HABERMAN

The unpleasant controversy over the police program commonly referred to as stop-and-frisk has disintegrated into a struggle among absolutists. (We’re not talking here about vodka drinkers.)

At one extreme, you have people like the city comptroller, John C. Liu, who, when not comptrolling, continues to nurture his ambition to become New York’s next mayor. Mr. Liu says that stop-and-frisk is past the point where it can benefit from tinkering, as the police commissioner proposed last week, and even past the point of major overhaul, as recommended by other would-be mayors.

No, the comptroller says, this police tactic “doesn’t need to be reformed, it needs to be abolished.”

Abolition is unlikely to take place, let alone win approval from most New Yorkers, until at least the day after the last murder ever is committed in this city and after the last gun ever is carried on the street.

At the other end, we have the mayor, his minions and an amen corner of tabloid editorialists and columnists who suggest that any fiddling with mass street searches for weapons will result in people dying by the truckload — horrifying murder rates not experienced here in two decades.

And shame on you, they pretty much say, if you wonder how it is that the number of police stops had to increase by 600 percent from 2002 to 2011 to produce a decline in murders during that same period of a commendable yet vastly more modest 12 percent. The City Hall line is that the police operation as currently practiced is all that stands between New Yorkers and chaos.

Surely, some semblance of reality lies beyond the inflexible boundaries of these conflicting visions for the city. Please allow us to suggest a third course, which involves neither abolishing stop-and-frisks nor leaving the policy untouched.

It’s quite simple: greatly increase the number of New Yorkers who are stopped on the street.

Overwhelmingly, the people now stopped are African-American and Latino men, a reality that is of enormous concern to the program’s critics (who tend to overlook the inconvenient fact that the same demographic is also overwhelmingly responsible for, and victim of, homicides in this city, and would unavoidably be the target of any antiviolence strategy). But if police officers confronted many more New Yorkers, of all races and ethnicities, the racial imbalance would be somewhat corrected.

While guns are a paramount worry, they are not the only one.

Graffiti remains a problem. Why not have the police intercept customers at stores selling spray paint? It is already illegal to sell such paint to anyone under 21; over the weekend, The Daily News reported that the city had shut down a hardware store for supposedly flouting the law. But teenagers are presumably not the only taggers. Stop, question and frisk anyone seen outside hardware and art-supplies stores.

Gum chewers might be stopped, too. We’ve all seen those hideous splotches on sidewalks, the result of thoughtless people spitting out gum. Police stops might impel them to keep the gum in their pockets and not in their mouths when they’re out and about.

Bicyclists are another possible target. Those who ride the wrong way or run red lights can create hazards. So can pedestrians with eyes glued to smart phones as they cross the street. Throw a fear of the police into them, and they may start shaping up.

This idea is similar to one raised by me a few months ago to expand the pool of New Yorkers who are fingerprinted. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo have been at odds over the city’s insistence on digitally fingerprinting applicants for food stamps. Mr. Bloomberg says the practice discourages fraud. But Mr. Cuomo reiterated the other day his call for the policy to be ended because he believes it unfairly stigmatizes the poor.

One way to relieve the stigma is to fingerprint many more people getting government assistance, including business leaders. To make sure they abide by their agreements, why not print the executives of companies like Fresh Direct, which recently received tens of millions of municipal dollars in cash and incentives to stay in the city? Fingerprinting all millionaires might stop some of them from even thinking about playing fast and loose with their tax returns.

And it should go without saying that all elected officials — or anyone seeking public office, for that matter — must be printed as a deterrent. Bet you that the crime rate in Albany and the City Council has been no better in recent years than what you’ll find on the food-stamps line.

E-mail Clyde Haberman: haberman@nytimes.com

https://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/20...ng-more-stops/

[GP73LPC]

let's hope this gets pushed through...

it would be a step in the correct direction...

[supermanlives]

now that you can smoke ,you cant quench your thirst with a bigass soda. ha ha ha