Mississippi Supreme Court upholds life sentence for cannabis possession

The Mississippi Supreme Court last week voted to uphold a life sentence without the possibility of parole for a man convicted of possessing less than three ounces of weed. The court voted 6-3 to confirm the sentence for defendant Allen Russell, who was convicted under the Mississippi Common Offenders Act.

“Because the trial judge followed the law to the letter, we affirm,” Judge Robert P. Chamberlin wrote in the majority opinion cited by the Epoch Times. “The trial judge had no discretion in this case.”

Russell was arrested in 2017 for possessing five bags of cannabis totaling 79.5 grams (just over 2.5 ounces), which police discovered while executing a search warrant. Laboratory analysis of two of the bags showed they contained 43.71 grams (about 1.54 ounces) of cannabis, and Russell was charged with one charge of possessing more than 30 grams but less than 250 grams of cannabis.

Normally, a conviction on such a charge would carry a prison sentence of up to three years. But Russell has also been accused of being a violent habitual offender, which when convicted, served him a mandatory life sentence without parole.

Convicted under the Mississippi Common Offenders Act

At his trial, prosecutors presented evidence that Russell had three prior felony convictions, two for burglary and one for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Under Mississippi law, a burglary is considered a violent crime even if there is no evidence of actual violence against a person in a case.

Russell pleaded guilty to the burglary charges in 2004 and was sentenced to two concurrent 15-year terms. He spent just over 8.5 years in prison and was released in 2014, the same year Mississippi law was changed to make burglary a violent crime, even though no evidence of violence is presented in court.

A jury found Russell guilty of possession in 2019, and the court found he was a violent habitual offender under the law and sentenced him to life in prison. Russell then sued to set aside the sentence, arguing that it violated his right to protection from cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment of the US Constitution and his constitutional right not to be retrospectively subjected to law.

Chief Justice Michael Randolph, in a separate unanimous opinion, wrote that Russell’s life sentence was not just for possession of cannabis and that he had been treated leniently by the courts in previous criminal trials, noting that the defendant “is no stranger to the criminal justice system.” “.

“Russell received a severe sentence, not for possessing a small amount of marijuana, but for repeatedly refusing to comply with the laws that were enacted to protect all citizens of our state,” Randolph wrote.

The Chief Justice added that “it should be noted that the arrest came as law enforcement sought to serve Russell another drug-related arrest warrant and to execute a search warrant at his premises.”

Judge Josiah Coleman wrote in a dissenting opinion that Russell had been mistreated by the courts. Noting that there was uncertainty about Russell’s criminal record, he wrote that “burglary was not considered a violent crime per se until” state law was changed in 2014. The defendant pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary 10 years later. the change. But “a burglary was only considered a violent crime if violence actually took place during the burglary” before the law was changed. The dissenting judges questioned whether Russell actually had a violent history.

“Prior to July 1, 2014, burglary was only considered a violent crime if violence actually took place during the burglary,” the dissenting opinion reads. “We don’t know if Russell’s break-ins involved actual violence, but the fact that the sentencing court gave him the opportunity to participate in the Regimented Inmate Discipline Program tends to suggest that that wasn’t the case.”

Court of Appeal upheld verdict last year

Last year, an appeals court voted 5-5 in Russell’s case, with insufficient ties to overturn the verdict. In an opinion upholding the sentence, the judges wrote that the verdict was consistent with state law. But several dissenting judges wrote that courts can and should make exceptions when warranted.

“The purpose of the criminal justice system is to punish those who break the law, to discourage them from making similar mistakes, and to give them an opportunity to become productive members of society,” Circuit Court Judge Latrice Westbrooks wrote in the dissenting opinion of 2021. “The fact that judges are not routinely afforded the ability to exercise discretion in sentencing all habitual offenders is totally contrary to that goal.”

The case was then appealed to the Mississippi Supreme Court, which upheld the verdict in last week’s decision.

A Change.org petition organized by the group Check Your Privilege is calling on Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves to commute Russell’s life sentence. As of Tuesday, the petition had garnered more than 100,000 signatures.

“There is no amount of cannabis that should earn someone a life sentence,” the petition reads. “Allen Russel was found guilty of possession of just an ounce of weed in 2019 while recreational use laws are relaxed across the US.”

Mason Tvert, a longtime cannabis activist and partner at cannabis policy firm VS Strategies, criticized the ruling and suggested it be reviewed by the US Supreme Court.

“It is tragically ironic that this man’s life is being taken for possessing a substance which, when used alone, has never claimed a life,” Tvert wrote in an email to High Times. “This case certainly merits further review and should be reversed.”